Tip off: 8 PM EST
Spread: WAS -7
Total: 185
M/L: WAS -300, MIA +250
Bet at Bookmaker, the source of these NBA Betting Odds
OK, so the Heat are without both their second and third fiddles in Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. They still have LeBron James, and this is still a horrible Washington Wizards team, with few legit weapons outside of franchise point guard and number one overall pick in 2010, John Wall. Acquiring Nene didn’t make a lot of sense, because JaVale McGee was younger and is an excellent shot blocker. Moreover, McGee and Wall were showing signs of having real chemistry. Nene is still in his prime, but the Wizards aren’t ready to compete yet, so why acquire a help-now player?
The Wizards have a horrible contract and awful player in Andray Blatche, and Nick Young was a total waste of a talent as well, and they did well by ridding themselves of his horrible shot selection and dubious defensive efforts. They shouldn’t be expected to beat this Heat team by seven, even with two of their best three players sidelined. LeBron will be unstoppable no matter what the Wizards try, and it will likely be up to rookie James Singleton to cover James. While Singleton is a quality defender and arguably the top defender in his class outside Kawhi Leonard, covering James is a daunting task for any NBA rookie.
The Heat are going to roll in with the #2 overall seed in the East and should be a lock in the first round whether they face the New York Knicks or the Philadelphia 76ers. They just have too many weapons and both Bosh and Wade should be recovered fully from their hamstring injuries by the Playoffs. The Heat should sweep whomever they play, which will set up an interesting second round matchup against the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers have some reasons to scare the Heat, given the fact that Joel Anthony lacks the bulk to body up with Roy Hibbert, and even in the second unit Tyler Hansbrough is going to abuse Udonis Haslem all night. The backcourt will neutralize, as Chalmers and Darren Collison are near equals, while Paul George and George Hill will help to counteract Wade’s dominance.
The key matchup may end up being that of one time All-Star Danny Granger and LBJ himself. Both are the best player on their team and both are small forwards capable of playing big time defense, and also scoring in heaps. Granger has long been ignored despite being one of the best of his draft class, and he was even ignored draft night, falling to pick 17 where the Pacers gracefully snatched up the second best player in that draft.
Wizards Betting Trends:
Washington is 28-36 ATS this seas on and 5-7 ATS as a favorite. They are 12-19 ATS at home and 21-22 ATS in the second half of the season. They are 7-4 ATS vs teams with winning records in the second half of the season and 8-11 ATS on the second night of a back to back.
Heat Betting Trends:
Miami is 32-33 ATS this season and 1-3 ATS as an underdog. They are 14-18 ATS in road games and 23-21 ATS in the second half of the season. They are 5-2 ATS in the second half vs team with losing records and 4-9 ATS after 3 or more consecutive unders.
