Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets betting tips and predictions for Monday’s NBA game on NBA TV. The Heat are looking for their 4th win in a row as they host the best team in the Western Conference the Nuggets. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Miami Heat
The current 3-game win streak the Heat are on was a much needed one as they’ve finally put some cushion between them and the 7th seeded Knicks in the standings. With the Nets who are in 5th struggling right now, it’s important to keep this momentum going in order to grab home court advantage in the playoffs. Denver will be a tough match-up, they won the first meeting of the season 124-119 which was their 8th win in the last 10 head-to-head.
Just like in any other Heat game this season, a lot will depend on the health status of Miami in tonight’s game. Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson and Victor Oladipo are all out, while Tyler Herro is questionable with a finger injury. Miami is on a 8-game home win streak, so that might be an encouraging factor here.
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets also have a few injury worries here with Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray being questionable with ribs and knee injuries. Unlike the Heat, Denver can afford a few losses here and there as they have a pretty comfortable 4.5 game lead atop of the Western Conference. Words cannot explain how good Nikola Jokic has been this season, he’s making a strong case for his 3rd MVP award averaging a triple-double.
His team heads into this one after an easy 119-105 win over the Charlotte Hornets on the road, they’ve gone 5-0 ATS/SU in the last 5 meetings with the Heat. With the All-Star break just around the corner, it will be important to finish off the week on a strong note, a win at Miami would certainly qualify as that.
Denver has had the edge in head-to-head meetings, they are also on a 15-5 SU run in their last 20 games. They’ve covered in 5 of 6 trips to Miami, with the injury struggles the Heat are dealing with I can definitely see them wining this game. Take the road underdogs to cover.
Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets Predictions & Odds
It was an unusually high scoring game in the first meeting between these two sides as we saw 243 points at Ball Arena. That’s 22 points more than the 221.3 points per game average in the last 10 meetings. During that stretch the O/U record is 6-4 in favor of the over, but I feel like with this being a home game for Miami we could see a decrease in scoring a bit. The Heat have gone under in 15 of 28 games at Miami-Dade Arena, they are known for playing a really slow tempo averaging only 97 possessions per game which is the 3rd lowest mark in the NBA.
Denver is only 18th in pace themselves, so they will be fine playing in the half court here. Their strategy usually revolves around getting Nikola Jokic involved, so this playing style will fit them perfectly. With the under cashing in 8 of the last 11 Heat games, I think that trend continues here so let’s back the under.
