NBA Thursday Basketball Betting – Detroit at Boston

The Detroit Pistons’ tough schedule continues Thursday night with a trip to TD Banknorth Garden in Boston to face the Eastern-leading Celtics. Before facing the Celtics the Pistons’ NBA betting schedule included stops in Los Angeles to face the Lakers, Phoenix, and a home game against Cleveland, so they’ve been getting the best the NBA has to offer.

Detroit’s western swing was filled with highs and lows, as they became the first team this season to beat the Lakers, only to follow that up with a big loss to Phoenix. Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace each dropped in 25 points against the Lakers in Detroit’s 106-95 win as a 9.5-point underdog on the NBA odds. Against the Suns that offensive production from AI and Wallace disappeared in a 104-86 loss.

Iverson only had nine points on 4-of-17 shooting, while Wallace could only muster 11 points. As a team the Pistons shot a lousy 39 percent in the loss and hit only 68 percent of their free throws. If that version of the Pistons shows up in Boston on Thursday night Detroit will likely be in for another big loss.

The Celtics last took to the court on Tuesday against the Knicks, with Kevin Garnett out due to a one-game suspension. Even without Garnett Boston defeated New York 110-101 as an 8-point favorite on the sports betting NBA odds. Paul Pierce led Boston with 22 points, while Kendrick Perkins stepped up in Garnett’s absence with 16 points and eight rebounds. Garnett will be back on Thursday night, which is bad news for Detroit.

The Celtics and Pistons met up in Detroit earlier this month when Boston won 88-76 as a pick’em in the BetUS Sportsbook NBA odds. Not only was that game notable because it was the first game between the East’s two superpowers, but it was also Allen Iverson’s Pistons debut. In his first game Iverson netted only 10 points, but he should be more active in Thursday’s rematch. The Celtics were surprisingly led by Tony Allen, who had a season-high 23 points in the win.

Garnett and Pierce both struggled to find the basket in the win, as Garnett was limited to eight points on 4-of-15 shooting and Pierce had only seven points on 3-of-10 shooting. If Boston can get only 15 points combined from KG and Pierce and still beat Detroit by 12 points that doesn’t bode well for the Pistons in the rematch.