Charlotte Hornets vs. Miami Heat Odds, Preview, Prediction

by Nick Galaida (nickgalaida) Last Updated 2021-10-29 16:49:53

Hornets vs. Heat Odds

On Friday evening, the Charlotte Hornets and the Miami Heat will battle at FTX Arena. Charlotte has won four of their first five games to start the new season, with their only loss coming in overtime to the Boston Celtics. Miami is 3-1 to begin the campaign, with their only loss coming in overtime to the Indiana Pacers. Oddsmakers anticipate the Heat having the upper hand in tonight’s matchup, pricing Miami as 6 point home favorites on the spread.

Let’s take a closer look at the matchup between the two teams and see where NBA bettors can find value at sportsbooks for this Friday night game in Miami.

Charlotte Hornets (+6)

The Hornets have defeated the Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets, and Orlando Magic during the opening week of the NBA season. Miles Bridges has been sensational, averaging 26.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per night. LaMelo Ball has contributed across the stat sheet, posing 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game. Gordon Hayward and “(player-popup #kelly-oubre)Kelly Oubre Jr are adding a combined 32.6 points per contest as the third and fourth scoring option for this group. Though this roster is top-heavy, the return of Terry Rozier should give this unit five legitimate scoring options to go with Ish Smith and Mason Plumlee as respectable options off of the bench.

Charlotte has the best offensive rating of any team in the NBA through five games, but to consistently win games on the road in this league, teams need to be able to get stops on a nightly basis. This could be a challenge for the Hornets tonight, considering that they rank 21st in defensive efficiency this year.

Miami Heat (-6)

Other than an overtime loss to the Pacers on the road, the Heat have been arguably the most dominant team in the NBA this October. The Heat defeated the Milwaukee Bucks by 42 points in their season opener. They easily handled the Orlando Magic by 17 points on Monday, and followed up that strong performance by going to Brooklyn and winning by 13 points on Wednesday.

Despite having only three players averaging double-digits in scoring, Miami is a dangerous team because they play tenacious defense and rarely resort to isolation offense. Jimmy Butler has filled up the stat sheet through four contests, averaging 23.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists. Tyler Herro has seemingly returned to form, posting 21.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, after a disastrous 2020-2021 campaign. Bam Adebayo has been a force on the low-block with averages of 19.3 points and 12.8 rebounds. Newcomer Kyle Lowry is not off to a strong start from a numbers perspective, but his leadership and ball-handling abilities have made a salient positive impact on this team.

The Heat enter play on Friday ranking a mediocre 16th in offensive efficiency, but mediocre offense is good enough to win a lot of games when a team ranks number one in the league in defensive efficiency. Allowing only 92.0 points per 100 possessions so far this year, expect Miami to give Charlotte plenty of problems in this one.

Hornets vs. Heat Pick

Early in a new season, there is a media effect that results in certain teams being overhyped while other teams fly under the radar. Charlotte, with LaMelo Ball as the celebrity face of the franchise, has garnered plenty of media attention during their strong start to the season. However, Miami—a less sexy team that struggles to generate many clicks, is the far superior team in this matchup. The Heat have won each of their three games this season by 13 or more points, and they have already proven themselves capable of defeating elite talent this year with wins against the Bucks and Nets. Charlotte also beat Brooklyn, but only barely took care of business against the Pacers, Cavaliers, and Magic.

Playing at home tonight, Miami is capable of covering a relatively small spread.

PICKS: Heat -6 (-110)

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