Pistons vs. Celtics Thursday NBA injury report, odds, props: Detroit can tie league's longest losing streak but will not face Jaylen Brown

Could the NBA-best Boston Celtics be feeling a little pity for the Detroit Pistons on Thursday? The Pistons are in Boston trying to avoid tying the league record with their 28th straight loss and are 17-point underdogs on the SportsLine consensus. A victory by Detroit would easily be one of the biggest upsets in NBA regular-season history. Notably, the Celtics were listing All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as questionable -- Tatum will play and Brown will not. 

Clearly the sportsbooks think they will play or the spread would not be that high. It's the biggest number against the Pistons this season – for what it's worth, they are 2-1 straight up and 3-0 against the spread in their past three outings as at least 17-point dogs, but that goes back many years. Their most recent such game was on Jan. 3, 2022, at Milwaukee and won 115-106. Detroit has been +16.5 this season, also in Milwaukee on Dec. 16 and lost 146-114.

Detroit tied the league's single-season record of 27 losses in a row on Tuesday in a 118-112 home defeat against Brooklyn, but did cover a 6.5-point spread. It was one of the team's tighter losses in the skid. Only the Philadelphia 76ers, who dropped 28 games in a row between the 2014-15 and 2015-16 campaigns, have endured a worse losing streak.

The Pistons are on pace for just five wins, with the fewest in an 82-game season being nine by the 1972-73 Sixers. DraftKings lists Detroit at over/under 9.5, with the Over a -320 favorite, and the team is a heavy -425 favorite to finish with the most losses in the NBA. The favorite as the team's next win is Saturday at home vs. Toronto at +180. That the streak ends Thursday is +850. That the Pistons don't win another game all season is +30000.

Former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham is certainly bears the least blame for the losses, as he's been playing quite well. Cunningham had 41 points, nine rebounds and five assists in Tuesday's loss but is now 0-10 in the NBA when he personally scores at least 30. That's hard to believe. He's set at O/U 23.5 points for Thursday. Cunningham set a franchise record with 35 second-half points vs. the Nets and is the first Piston since Jerry Stackhouse (2001) with multiple 40-point games in a month.

Detroit will be without big man Isaiah Stewart due to a toe injury. A solid player, Stewart averages 10.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Guard Killian Hayes (9.1 PPG, 4.4 assists per game) is probable after missing Tuesday with an illness.

It never made much sense for Boston to potentially rest both Tatum and Brown and be on the wrong side of history, but the Celtics shouldn't need Brown (22.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.6 apg) to win Thursday. They also are in the front end of a back-to-back with a tougher home game vs. Toronto on Friday. Boston was 11-4 without Brown last season and 1-0 this year, a 117-107 win in Philadelphia on Nov. 15. 

The Celtics enter on a three-game winning streak, taking each by at least 11 points and averaging 138.3 PPG in the run. Detroit allows 120.8 PPG and Boston's O/U team total tonight is 124.5. Boston has won six straight in the series. This is the first meeting this season. The last time the C's were at least 17-point favorites was in January 2009 vs. Sacramento.

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