Posted on 4/25/2008 4:58:09 PM

NBA Free Picks 2008 – Philadelphia Brings The Show Home

By Tim Furious

Detroit Pistons (59-23) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (40-42)

Friday, April 25th --- Wachovia Center, Philadelphia --- 7:00pm EST

Series: Tied 1-1

NBA Betting Line: Detroit -5.5 (180)

Game 2 adjustments are the most difficult thing to measure for the betting investor. And Detroit proved exactly why. The Pistons resurrected their strong ATS record to 5-1 ATS in the last 6 games by absolutely dominating the Sixers 105-88 in the Palace. They quickly reminded the betting community exactly why they are the number-two seed in the Eastern Conference. The question is whether or not the Sixers will remember that lesson.

Philadelphia has averaged 89 points in this series proving that they can get buckets on Detroit. The scary part is the betting trends, however. Andre Miller and company are now 1-4 SU in the last 5 games, and 1-4 ATS in the last 5 games at home. Detroit was favored by double digits in both games, and now the oddsmakers have split the difference on the road by giving Detroit a -5.5 point edge over the Sixers.

And the finger is being pointed directly at Andre Igoudala, the explosive playmaker for the Pistons, has played very poorly. Iggy has 10.0 points and 6.0 assists in the series, which would be fine if you weren’t the go-to guy on a hopeful underdog trying to pound the Pistons.

Detroit has been floppy on the road, going 3-6 ATS in the last 9 games. On top of that, Detroit has gone 2-5 ATS in the last seven games when playing Philadelphia. Two things about that: First, either Philadelphia plays extremely well against Detroit OR (and more likely), the oddsmakers vastly underestimated Philadelphia from the get go. Well if the latter was the case, then it should be fair to assume that they’ve caught up. This spread if fair considering the beat down the Pistons handed Philadelphia the other night.

That being said, I love Philadelphia as a home dog. They are 13-5 SU in their last 18 games at home, and something tells me that the crowd is going to give them that extra bump they need. As good as Detroit is systematically, you can’t overlook the surge that Philadelphia is going to get from the crowd. And that’s enough for me to take Philadelphia with the points in the OVER.

NBA Betting Free Picks: Philadelphia +5.5 (OVER)

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