Celtics Injury Report Causes a 5-Point Swing vs Pistons

• Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Al Horford are off the injury report and expected to play.
• Around 1 PM EST the Boston Celtics were 7- point favorites vs the Detroit Pistons.
• The line drastically increased to Celtics -12 at 1:30 EST.

BOSTON – The banged-up Boston Celtics (-700) are set to face off with the struggling Detroit Pistons as a 12-point favorite. The line has drastically changed over the course of the last hour due to stars Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Marcus Smart being left off the Celtics’ injury report.

Important Betting Update

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart will be suiting up for the final Celtics game before the NBA All-Star Break.

Smart will be testing out his ankle for the first time in 11 games since suffering the injury against the Toronto Raptors.

His long-awaited departure from the injury report surely had an influence on the Celtics 5-point increase on NBA sportsbooks.

Al Horford has missed three of his last five games dealing with right knee soreness.

He doesn’t carry an injury designation heading into their home matchup against the Detroit Pistons, which is promising for Celtics bettors that Horford will play.

Horford has been a key inside player all season for the Celtics, providing value as a defender, passer, and scorer.

Jayson Tatum Availability

Perhaps the biggest cause of the sudden line movement in the favor of the Boston Celtics is the absence of 4x NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum from the injury report.

Tatum sat out against the Milwaukee Bucks on February 14th with a non-covid illness.

Jayson Tatum’s return against a struggling Pistons squad explains the massive swing for the Celtics at online sportsbooks.

This is an important bounce-back game for the Celtics to give them momentum heading into the NBA All-Star Break.

Even without starter Jaylen Brown, the three star Celtics players returning from injury tonight will be enough to defeat the Detroit Pistons by 12.