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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Nick Schwartz

Pistons at Celtics: Prediction, point spread, odds, over/under, betting picks

The short-handed Boston Celtics host the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, and if you’re looking to do some last-minute betting research, you’re in luck! We’ll give you the latest point spread, moneyline odds and over-under number, as well as the information you’ll need to make the smartest bet on BetMGM.

The game tips off at 8 p.m. ET and can be seen on Fox Sports Detroit and NBC Sports Boston.

The Celtics will still be without Marcus Smart and Romeo Langford as they continue to recover from injuries, but have added Kemba Walker (left knee injury management) and Robert Williams III (left hip soreness) to the injury report. Both players will miss Friday’s game.

The Pistons have been dealing with a long injury report for weeks, and a total of five players (Sekou Doumbouya, Killian Hayes, Frank Jackson, Jahlil Okafor and Mason Plumlee) are out on Friday.

The lines, courtesy of BetMGM

  • Point spread: Celtics -7.5
  • Money line: Celtics -350 / Pistons +260
  • Over-under: 211.5

Place your legal, online sports bets in VA, CO, IA, IN, NJ, PA, TN and WV at BetMGM.

Advice and prediction

The Pistons are an erratic team, so betting the spread on Friday feels a bit risky. Detroit is an abysmal 1-11 on the season away from home, and the Pistons have lost five of their last six games by an average of 15.6 points. (The Pistons also just beat the Brooklyn Nets by 11 on Tuesday, of course).

These teams have already met twice this season, and have split the series 1-1 – but the margin in both games was within three points. The Pistons tend to overperform against teams you’d expect to blow them out. In their last eight games against 2020 playoff teams, Detroit is 6-2 against the spread.

With the Celtics missing a number of key players, I like that trend to continue. Cautiously take the Pistons +7.5 on Friday.

Prediction: Celtics 119, Pistons 114

Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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