Posted at 1:45 PM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle +4½ -102 BET365 +5½ -110 Sportsinteraction +4½ -110 888Sport +5½ -114

Detroit 1st QTR  +4½ over Boston

Best Odds: -102 at Pinnacle

7:10 PM EST. We're attacking two ugly teams this afternoon but if you know this site and if you know it's bettors, then you know this is nothing out of the ordinary. Some may say, "as stupid as a stupid does," but when we see value we cannot be afraid to fire. Even if the programs we're counting on are less than ideal choices.

The Detroit Pistons don't beckon any excitement to an NBA fan. On the contrary, they're a young team with much to learn and from where we're sitting, they're probably still 2-3 years away from being a considerably better program. Still, despite the many errors in their ways, the Pistons have played extremely hard when they battle the Celtics. Some of that may be the proverbial bulls-eye on Boston's back, an outfit that everyone knows is expected to go to the NBA Finals because of their breadth of talent. Every bottom-feeder wants to prove they can hang with the best, especially when we're talking about professional athletes. College kids and college teams will present more talent disparity in general, for obvious reasons, but this is a group of guys who made it to the pinnacle of their trade, capable of having a big night and beating any team in the NBA on a given night. We've certainly seen that from Detroit against Boston before.

The Celtics are off another big week, now winners of seven straight, and they found revenge against the Bucks on Wednesday in a relatively dominant victory (until the fourth quarter, yikes). In their first game against Detroit, the Pistons were 17-point underdogs and forced the contest into overtime. Boston eventually won, but barely (128-122). Naturally, fearing that the same thing might occur in battle #2, Boston poured it on the Pistons four nights ago, shellacking their lowly opponent 119-94 at home.

But after another successful stretch of games and with a 6-game, 10-day road trip on the horizon (and a road back to back at Chicago tomorrow night), how interested do you think the Celtics will be tonight? In our professional opinion, not very! The Celtics' injury report is long on Friday - Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis are all listed as "questionable." Jrue Holiday will not play. This is a perfect situation for the Celtics to rest a bunch of key players and attempt to win with the many talented two-way guys they have on their roster. It's also a perfect scenario for them to not give two-shits about this contest, since they own a commanding 10½-game lead in the Eastern Conference with only 11 games remaining. The Pistons could win this game and the first quarter straight up, but we feel great about their chances of covering early at this large of a spread.

Farley

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