Miami Heat vs Oklahoma City Thunder betting tips and predictions for Monday’s NBA clash. The Miami Heat are looking for their 2nd consecutive win as they hit the road and take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Miami Heat
Miami just loves playing Utah. For the 2nd time in the last 7 days they were able to beat the Salt Lake City based team 111-105. The win comes at a crucial time for the Heat as they were slipping up a bit with 3 straight losses. With the win they are now back in 5th place in the Eastern Conference with a 8-5 record. Tonight they might get a much needed boost as Jimmy Butler could make a return after missing a couple of games with a ankle injury. The status of Markieff Morris is still unknown, he’s still dealing with consequences from the Nikola Jokic incident. The Heat are the bettors dream this season, they’ve covered the spread 8 times in their last 11 games.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City has also been in solid form when it comes to covering the spread. They’ve done so in 5 of their last 6 games, however they are coming off a tough 120-96 home loss against the Brooklyn Nets. At 5-7 they are in 10th place in the West and would enter the play-in tournament if the season ended today. There are some positives to take away, they’ve won 4 of the last 5 games. The play of Shae Gilgeous-Alexander has been a particular highlight, he leads the team with 22.6 points per game. However, for some reason OKC has struggled in games against opponents from the Eastern Conference. They’ve lost 13 of the last 14 games against such teams dating back to last season.
With Jimmy Butler or without, I think Miami gets the job done here. They have the advantage on the boards averaging 48.9 per game, while the Thunder allow the most opponent rebounds in the NBA at 49.2 per game. That stat alone should be the difference here, so let’s back Miami to cover.
Oklahoma City Thunder – Miami Heat Odds
Oklahoma City Thunder – Miami Heat Predictions & Odds
Head -9 Point Spread is available at -110 odds on bet365
Scoring-wise these two teams have been very modest in the last 10 meetings head-to-head. They are averaging just 210.1 points between them with the under cashing on 6 occasions. Miami Heat road games have been very productive on the Over this season with 6 of 8 cashing. Their defense has taken a hit with Jimmy Butler being in the line-up, in the last three games they’ve given up 120, 112 and 105 points. I’m not going to say the Thunder will score 110, but surely they can get to at least 100 points at home. The Heat are superior at almost every position, with the likes of Tyler Herro coming off the bench they can get hot in a hurry. If that’s the case I think we’ll see them score a similar amount as against the Jazz. Let’s back the Over in this one.
Over 210 Total Points is available at -110 odds on bet365
