Fantasy basketball tips and projections for Friday - ESPN

ESPN's fantasy basketball and basketball betting tips cheat sheet is your pregame destination for basketball betting predictions and our best intel and data, featuring ESPN's proprietary Basketball Power Index (BPI) to help you make smart fantasy and wagering decisions. Fantasy advice is based on ESPN 10-team leagues.

New this season, ESPN Analytics will also generate daily NBA fantasy projections. By combining historical player and team data and specific game factors ESPN is able to accurately predict player box score stats. Accounting for injuries, trends in playing time, and other factors impacting future performance the statistical models can be used to help NBA fantasy players gain an edge in their league.

Thursday's busy slate featured a fascinating matchup between the Pistons and Celtics in Boston, as Detroit was trying to break a 27-game losing streak. They ended up blowing a 21-point lead on a night the Celtics rested Jaylen Brown (back) and lost 128-122 in overtime after Cade Cunningham missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining in regulation. The Celtics were able to seal the deal behind big games from Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White to save the embarrassment of getting beaten by Monty Williams' Pistons.

Detroit fell to 2-29 and matched the Philadelphia 76ers (2014-15 and 2015-16) with 28 consecutive losses and will need a home win against the Raptors on Saturday to avoid breaking the NBA record for longest losing streak at 29 games. Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Bojan Bogdanovic all played well for the Pistons in another deflating loss.

Ja Morant (illness) and Luka Doncic (quad) were sadly out on Thursday, Victor Wembanyama went off for 30 points, six