There are a lot of ingredients here that point to this game going Under the total.

Let's start with the situation. It's a day game. That's often a plus for the Under. It's a stop-the-pain game for Detroit, losers of four in a row. It's the Nets' revenge game of the year. They suffered their worst home loss of the season 11 days ago losing to the Pistons, 114-80. Brooklyn was in a vulnerable spot for that game having just taken the Raptors to overtime before losing by one point the night before. Their energy was lacking. It won't be here.

Now let's talk current form. The Nets have slowed things down ranking in the middle of the pack in tempo during the last two weeks. Brooklyn ranks last in offensive efficiency during this span, too. However, the Nets have played stronger defense in January than they did earlier in the season. If you discount that bad performance against the Pistons, the Nets have held five of their last nine opponents to fewer than 101 points. Only two opponents in the last 10 games have scored more than 107 points on the Nets during regulation. The Nets just held the Heat to six points under their season average in a 101-95 home win this past Friday.

The Pistons rank 25th in scoring. They are a bottom-10 team, too, in field goal percentage and free throw shooting.

Now let's discuss matchup. There are key players back from injury who are pluses for the Under. The Nets have back DeMarre Carroll and D'Angelo Rusell. Both are underrated defensive players. Russell played 14 minutes against the Heat after missing the previous 32 games following knee surgery. He was rusty shooting-wise, as expected, but provided a defensive spark.

Detroit has reserve sparkplug Stanley Johnson back from a hip injury. Johnson is a stiff on offense, but a good defender.