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Posted at 12:45 PM EST. 

Detroit +169 over WASHINGTON

8:10 PM EST. There is a lot to work with here when it comes to picking apart the Wizards. First, you have the fact that the Wizards are in the thick of it for a playoff position and with that comes the assumption that they have everything to play for while their last placed invaders do not. Second, the Wiz are winners of three straight games over the Jazz, Kings and Pelicans. That's a pretty nice run of wins over Western Conference competition. Washington was a +10½ point pooch in Salt Lake City and won that game 125-121. That result looks damn good today. Market perception of the Wizards is on the uptick and there is no question that they look enticing today but that is the first warning sign we’ll bring to your attention.

The second warning sign is that situationally speaking, this is a bad spot for the Wizards. They played a hard fought overtime game against the Pelicans last night. Washington had a big lead in that game, then fell behind by nine points late in the fourth before a furious rally sent the game to OT. Washington would win it on a controversial foul that sent Russell Westbrook to the stripe with one second remaining to seal it.

That was Washington’s first game back after a six game trip that started in Toronto and ended in California with stops to Utah and Phoenix among others in between. The Wizards are a team full of ego-driven players that get up for games against the elite and down for games against the dregs. Detroit is considered to be a dreg. The Wizards will also host the Thunder on Monday, which was once the stomping grounds of Russell Westbrook, creating a potential lookahead spot as well.

While this is a situational play against the Wizards, we do not mind that the Pistons are the horse we get to back in this race. Detroit is coming off a 110-104 victory over the Thunder, but that is by no means a "signature win" and we doubt that result will have much influence here. Oddsmakers posted Washington at a very enticing price here, which is the final warning among a bunch of others. Pistons straight up is the call.

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