Sunday NBA Selection
Opinion Selection
DETROIT -11' over Milwaukee
The Pistons were on a mission this season and finished the regular season with the most wins in the league. Mission accomplished. Now, they are 16 wins away from accomplishing their ultimate goal, as they host #8 seed Milwaukee in a first-round opener.
Detroit is motivated for their second title in 3 seasons after losing the Finals in Game 7 at San Antonio last season. Their goal was to secure home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, which they have done their NBA-best regular season record. They have the most stable and solid starting 5 in the league, as Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace started for the 2004 championship team and have played together in 48 playoff games. Billups, Hamilton and both Wallaces were All-Stars this season, and the Pistons used the same starting lineup in an NBA-record 73 straight games.
The Pistons are nearly untouchable at the Palace of Auburn Hills, as they won 23 of its last 25 home games and had a seven-game home win streak snapped in Wednesday's 96-80 defeat to Washington in which the starters were rested. Needless to say, there's very good reasons why they are such a heavy favorite against Milwaukee.
Detroit has won six straight home games over Milwaukee and five of the last six between the teams overall. Hamilton averaged 26.7 points against Milwaukee, his second-highest average against Eastern Conference opponents this season. The Bucks are the only sub-.500% team in the playoffs and missed a chance to clinch the fifth seed in the East with their 116-103 loss Tuesday to the Washington Wizards. "I'm sick to my stomach," said Bucks guard Michael Redd, who scored a season-high 43 points. "That's all I can say now. I'm not a bit happy. I know we're in the playoffs but I want more than that, man. I shouldn't be thinking like this, but I'm totally frustrated, totally frustrated."
Redd and the Bucks are so upset because they desperately wanted to avoid the Pistons. They obviously have little confidence and would probably be happy with just avoiding a series shutout. All the numbers certainly seem stacked against them. NBA #1 seeds are 12-2 ATS at home in their last 14 round 1 home games. NBA #1 seeds are 8-0 ATS as a favorite of 6+ points in playoff series openers, and NBA playoff teams favored by 9+ points in series openers are 8-0 ATS the last 2 years. Detroit is focused and will likely come out in top form here, to set their playoff tone. Due to the large spread, we can't rate this selection higher, but we still like the Pistons to hit on all cylinders and shoot down the Bucks and the pointspread in Game 1.
PROJECTED FINAL SCORE: DETROIT 104 MILWAUKEE 87