NBA Betting: Detroid Pistons vs. Indiana Pacers

NBA betting action heads to Conseco Fieldhouse on Friday night, where the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers will renew their Central Division rivalry.

Neither one of these teams is playoff bound in 2010, and both will tell you that they have had disappointing seasons. Both suffered losses to Cleveland in their most recent games, as the Cavs knocked off Indiana 99-94 on Wednesday, while they defeated Detroit 113-101 on Tuesday.

Detroit Pistons (23-45, 28-38-2 ATS) vs. Indiana Pacers (22-46, 32-36 ATS)

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Detroit Pistons +2
Indiana Pacers -2
Game Total 203

The Pistons of the early 2000s were all built on great defensive intensity and hustle. Those things are totally missing right now in the Motor City.

Detroit's 12-point defeat to the Cavaliers marked their third straight game of allowing at least 112 points and was its seventh game in its L/9 in which it had conceded at least 105 points.

That's not a good sign at all for a team that has only scored more than 105 points in that stretch one time.

G Rodney Stuckey has been out of the lineup for the Pistons for the L/6 games while recovering from a surprising seizure suffered two weeks ago in Cleveland. He is probable and accepted to return to the court tonight along with C Ben Wallace, who has missed the L/3 games with a knee injury.

Stuckey and G Richard Hamilton are really the only great scoring options on this team. That duo is combining to score 35.9 points per game.

Four other Pistons are averaging double digits in scoring, but that's largely in part to the fact that this is a team that has suffered a ton of injuries in the 2009-10 NBA betting campaign.

For the season, Indiana has apparently played under the logic that defense is optional. The Pacers are conceding a whopping 104.5 points per game, which comes in ranked 24th in the NBA. That 'D' has buckled down just a tad of late, keeping three straight opponents under the critical 100-point barrier.

To no one's surprise, now that the defense has kicked it up a notch, the Pacers are a perfect 3-0 ATS in those three games.

C Roy Hibbert is coming off of a strong 20 point showing against Cleveland's stout interior defense. He's averaging 11.3 points per game in his second year out of Georgetown, but has been wildly inconsistent at times this season.

Missing F Danny Granger in the lineup is critical for this team. The former New Mexico Lobo was leading the team in scoring at 23.1 points per game before this most recent injury. Granger has only played in 48 games this season.

NBA Insider Betting Tip: Indiana is a perfect 6-0 ATS in its L/6 meeting with the Pistons.

That includes a 107-83 win over Detroit on February 5th in this arena and a 105-93 win at the Palace of Auburn Hills back on January 22nd.

For whatever reason, the Pacers just continue to have Detroit's number, and there's no reason to think that's changing on Friday night. Indiana has not only covered six straight in this series, but it has also won four straight, two of which came as short underdogs.

Look for them to keep that streak intact and rattle off their fourth straight betting victory.