3* Fool's Gold Favorite

Dallas vs. Detroit, 01/10/2012 19:30 EDT, Score: 100 - 86

Point Spread: +6½/-104 Detroit

Sportsbook: 5Dimes

Result: Loss

3* Fool's Gold Favorite on Pistons +7
The reigning NBA champs look to be fool's gold laying this many points on the road, where they are 0-3 this season. The Pistons are struggling but will be extremely motivated following last night's embarrassing 92-68 loss to the Bulls.

While the Mavs are clearly the more talented side, I don't believe this is the right time to take the plunge with them. Jason Kidd is out with a back injury and last year's backup point guard J.J. Barea is now in Minnesota. No one currently on the roster runs the offense as smoothly as those two. Plus, Dirk Nowitzki is yet to find his game. He's averaging just 12.0 points and shooting 30.8 percent over his last three games.

The Pistons are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games as a home underdog and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a home underdog of 5.0-10.5 points. The underdog is also 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings.

The Pistons have either won or lost by 5 points or less in each of the last 5 matchups with the Mavs. We'll fade Dallas.