OKC @ MIA
Time: 7 PM ET
Spread: OKC -4
M/L: OKC -180; MIA +160
Total: 202
Betting odds c/o Bovada
The Miami Heat may have lost LeBron James, but it sports the NBA’s toughest defense and will host a Western Conference contender in Oklahoma City on Thursday night. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Thunder are 4-point favorites in the game, which has an over/under of 202 and will air on TNT.
The Thunder boast an 11-7 mark thus far this season, but are searching for help outside the aforementioned tandem. The Heat have the No. 2 scoring defense and will be hosting OKC’s top-2 offense, in a game that could be a battle of wills when it comes to pacing. Dwyane Wade said “We’re not going to shut Kevin Durant down, you’re not going to shut Russell Westbrook down,” but teams have not had to do that to beat the Thunder.
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OKC overcame a 16-point hole in Atlanta but still lost 106-100 to ATL and OKC is averaging 108.9 points per game this season. Westbrook had 34 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists
in the loss, as the Thunder fell to 0-5 when scoring 100 points or less this season. Westbrook had 17 points in the fourth quarter alone, but Durant’s 25 were not enough to claw past the Hawks.
The Thunder bench shot just 7 of 31 from the floor and the Thunder are 11-1 this season when its bench scores at least 30 points, but have not won a game when it scores less than that mark (0-6).
First year HC Billy Donovan said the team has been getting the gym and working, and he is not displeased with the effort levels. He has taken over a veteran team with plenty of initiative takers and no shortage of talent. It is really just a matter of the keynote figures spurring their teammates while coaxing more production out of a talent-rich bench that has shooters and bigs.
The Heat lost 105-95 to Boston at home on Monday, and it was the third Heat loss in the last 10 games as the team fell to 10-6 on the season, atop the Southwest Division. Bosh had 21 points and 10 rebounds in the loss, while playing through an illness. He said the team is better than he thought they would be, but referenced inexperience as a cause for some of the losses. Wade had 30 Monday, but he committed six TOs, and he averaged just 15 against OKC last season, while Westbrook and the Thunder won both meetings.
The Heat have won four of its past six games, and center Hassan Whiteside is the key to its strong defense. He is averaging a league high 4.7 blocks per game while clearing 11.2 rebounds off the glass. Whiteside averages 13.5 points per game in just under 30 minutes a night while posting a team-high PER of 26.0.
Hassan is one of three Heat players (Wade, Bosh) with a PER over 20, and the Heat keep its turnovers low at 13.4 while shooting nearly 45 percent from the floor as a team. Sans LBJ, the Heat are still a tough ball club that cannot be looked past even by a title contending Thunder team.
Whiteside is establishing himself as perhaps the league’s most dominant defensive center an the Heat are getting big help from rookie Justise Winslow off the bench. The No. 10 overall pick is averaging seven points and five rebounds per game in 28 minutes a night, while proving to be an outstanding individual defender. This is a team whose calling card is on the defensive end and its whole rotation sports above average defenders.
