Miami Heat Form
Miami has been a dream for NBA bettors this season so far as they’ve covered the spread 9 times in 12 games so far. They are coming off two straight wins against the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder. Winning those two games must have been a real confidence booster considering they fell off quite a bit in the 4 games prior to that. They also did it without Jimmy Butler, who is still questionable for tonight’s game with an ankle injury. Even without him though, the oddsmakers favor the Heat considerably here and for good reason. They are 8-4 SU in their last 12 games and have covered the spread in 4 of their last 5 home games.
New Orleans Pelicans Form
After finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in the win over Memphis, New Orleans quickly returned to their losing ways and dropped a game at Washington 105-100 on Monday. The return of Brandon Ingram sparked a bit of a run, but it will take some time for them to implement their 2nd best player back into the mix after he was out for so long. Ingram had 31 points against the Wizards, but the Pelicans ran out of gas and managed to score only 20 points in the final 12 minutes of play. Going up against an elite team from the East and hoping that would be the turning point in your season is never a good idea, especially not when you’ve lost 5 of the last 6 games against them. The Pelicans have covered the spread just twice in their last 6 games overall.
Miami Heat vs New Orleans Pelicans Head to Head
I expect Brandon Ingram to have a good game individually here, but outside of him it’s hard to see anyone on the Pelicans being a threat to this Miami Heat defense. Getting back Butler could be a welcome bonus for Miami, but even if that doesn’t happen I can see them winning this game by double digits easily. Let’s back the Heat to cover here.
Betting Tip: Miami Heat vs New Orleans Pelicans
Miami Heat -6.5 Point Spread is available at -110 odds on bet365
After conceding 100+ points in 4 straight, the Heat finally returned to their old habits on defense and held the OKC Thunder to just 90 points in their last win. This team ranks 3rd in the NBA in opponent field goal percentage holding teams to just 42.6% shooting and just 41% in home games which puts them only behind Brooklyn and Golden State. In terms of pace of play, these two teams play very similarly. Miami ranks 21staveraging 99.7 possessions per game, the Pelicans are just a smidge above them with 100.1 per game. They did get Brandon Ingram back from injury, but let’s not forget this team is still without their top scorer from last season Zion Williamson and without him just 1 of their 8 road games has gone over the total this season. Miami and New Orleans have gone under the total in 5 of the last 6 games played in South Beach, I expect this solid run to continue tonight. Let’s back the under here.
