Two of the hottest teams in the East will play tonight. Detroit will host the Celtics in their fourth and final game of the season. Boston holds a commanding lead, winning all three of the matchups before this, but Detroit has only gotten better over time. Especially with Boston is banged up and players are questionable, Detroit might have a shot to steal this last game!
Jrue Holiday Questionable
Al Horford Questionable
Drew Peterson Out
Kristaps Porzingis Questionable
Luke Kornet Questionable
Simone Fontecchio Questionable
Jaden Ivey Out
Boston and Detroit have been cooking lately. Detroit is on a seven-game win streak, while Boston is on a five. For Boston, that’s not too much of a surprise. This Detroit run has come out of left field. We’ve seen eminence growth out of Detroit as they’ve jelled as a group. The veteran players have smoothed out a roster that couldn’t crest above 15 wins last season. Sitting in 6th in the East currently, they’re looking like a bonafide playoff team.
Boston will still be a challenge for Detroit. The combo of Tatum and Brown is still one of the most potent duos in the league. However, they’re catching Boston at an interesting time. With Holiday, Horford, Porzingis, and Kornet all missing yesterday’s game against Toronto, the Celtics may still be short-handed. If some of those guys miss time tonight, Detroit might have a chance to steal this one.
Boston is still elite, though. The bench has been stepping up even though the team is down a couple of starters. Payton Pritchard has elevated his gameplay this year as an elite sparkplug scorer; he’s been lethal from range.
This matchup should be intriguing. Cade has picked apart almost all of his opponents this year. Averaging 25 points, 9.5 assists, and 6.3 rebounds on solid shooting splits. Against Boston, it’s been a little different. They have managed to hold him below his average despite playing a ton of minutes over their last three games. They have the personnel to harass Cunningham constantly. Detroit will need someone else on the team to step up. If Beasley, THJ, or Harris, can up their scoring tonight, they’ll have a good chance to keep up.
The biggest issue for Detroit will be their defense. They don’t have great options to toss on Tatum or Brown. Tatum, in particular, has chewed the Pistons up in their last matchup. He’s been a scoring machine all year, and there isn’t much Detroit can do to stop him. For Detroit to take this game, they have to keep it a foot race. They just need to keep matching buckets. If they can do that, they can win the minutes when Tatum is on the bench, especially with this game coming as an away back-to-back for Boston.
Overall, Boston is still the better bet on the money line. They'll be fine if they get some of their starters back tonight on fresh legs. Tatum has been too dominant, and even though Detroit has seen success lately, this is still a growing team. Boston should be able to out score them and control the game's tempo.
Money line: BOS (-185) / DET (+154)
Total Points: 226.5
Spread: -4.5 BOS (-115) / +4.5 DET (-105)
Boston has been dominant lately. They have won nine of their last ten games. Even though this is the second night of a road back-to-back, they should be fine. It looks like they could get Porzingis and Holiday back tonight, which would be extremely helpful. Even with those guys out, Boston should be able to slow down Cade enough that Detroit won’t be able to keep up scoring.
Unless Boston is making in the rain from three, it doesn’t seem super likely the score will balloon over 227. Boston has been keeping their games a little more modest, around the 219 mark lately. Looking at how Boston has managed to keep Cade in check the last three games, I don’t see anyone else on Detroit lighting up the box score tonight. The under should be fairly safe tonight.
Boston has won by a margin of at least six points in all of their matchups this year. This line seems a bit low, considering the circumstances. I’d probably still take the money line over the spread tonight, but this line feels very obtainable for Boston.
Cade has averaged just 22 points a game against Boston. That’s not bad, but his shooting percentages have suffered in these matchups. Shooting just 22% from three over the last three games against Boston, Cade has been hounded on the three-point line. Expect him to struggle again tonight, especially if Jrue is playing.
Detroit doesn’t have a great option to toss on Tatum. His size, shooting ability, and IQ make him so challenging to match up against. With players like Tobias Harris, Ausar Thompson, and Ron Holland matching up against Tatum, he should have no trouble getting his points tonight. He even scored 37 points the last time these teams met, so he’s shown his ability to tear up this group.
White has done well against Detroit. He’s averaging 18 points and 6 assists over the last three games against them. He’s also been looking good over this winning streak, averaging 17.3 points and 5.3 assists in February. This should be a solid line.
Duren has been solid for Detroit this year. As the starter, he’s been averaging a double-double this season, shooting nearly 70% from the field. He’s your bread-and-butter lob threat, big man. He’s done alright on the defensive end, too, affecting shots at the rim. Averaging a block in a game, this line should be achievable for him.