Miami Heat at Utah Jazz
Time: 8 PM CT (NBA LP)
Spread: MIA -1.5
Total: 183
Betting odds c/o 5dimes
The Miami Heat possess the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 record at 22-14 and will travel to face the West’s No. 8 team thus far, the 15-20 Utah Jazz. The Heat are 7-6 on the road and will find itself 1.5 point favorites in the game which will air at 8 PM Central on NBA League Pass.
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Miami has won four of its past five games, most recently knocking off the Phoenix Suns 103-95 last night. Dwyane Wade had 27 points on 9 of 14 shooting and Goran Dragic chipped in 22 points including three three-pointers.
The Heat hit 49.3 percent from the floor in the game and turned it over just 10 times. Dragic has been having a bit of a down year, but he has stepped up his play over the Heat’s last five in averaging 15.6 points, 4.8 assists and three rebounds per game while shooting 53.2 percent from the floor and 50 percent from behind the arc.
The Heat average just 97.4 points per game, but have the NBA’s third highest rated defense. The Miami method of basketball seems well suited for the postseason, and this is still a team with a true identity and a lot of talent.
Chris Bosh and Wade are declining to be sure, but both are still legitimate No. 1 and No. 2 options. Bosh leads the team in scoring with 19.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game and both veterans as well as center Hassan Whiteside all possess PERs over 22.
Whiteside is the league’s leading shot blocker, swatting 3.80 shots per game while averaging a double-double, 12.2 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. He is getting paid less than a million this season and is sure to command a max contract this summer, be it re-signing in Miami or finding a new home elsewhere.
Gerald Green and Luol Deng are having effective seasons, but the Heat have been most impressed with rookie Justise Winslow at small forward. Winslow is posting humble stats, but his individual defense has been remarkable at this early juncture in his career. The one and done from Duke is seeing 27 minutes per game and coming up with 1.09 steals/blocks, but doing his heaviest contributions outside measurable statistics.
The Jazz have lost three straight but will be getting the key to its defense back: Rudy Gobert. Gobert has appeared in just 15 games this season and he queued the Jazz to posting the league’s best defensive rating after the All-Star break last season.
The 7-foot-2 Frenchman is a game changer in the paint, and he averaged 2.47 blocks per game prior to injury. Gobert also averaged 10.3 rebounds per game (3.3 on the offensive end) and nine points. This is what the Jazz have been waiting for, and Gobert’s defensive talents could help reverse the 15-20 Jazz.
Gordon Hayward quietly posts one of the best lines from an NBA small forward: 18.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, and Derrick Favors is a rugged 4-man in the mold of the last decade. Favors is not a stretch anything, but he averages 16.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game while coming up with 2.61 steals/blocks per game.
The Jazz now have a healthy lineup and though the team will be without Dante Exum the rest of the year, it has its key defensive 5-man needed to make its push back up the Western Conference Standings. Utah barely missed the postseason in 2015, but the Western Conference is weakened and the Jazz pose a legit threat to the teams ahead of it in the standings. Expect Gobert to push this team to the brink.
