Heat vs. Rockets Preview: NBA odds, Picks and Predictions
Heat vs. Rockets Odds
| Heat Odds | -3.5 |
| Rockets Odds | +3.5 |
| Over/Under | 218 |
| Date | Thu, Dec. 15 |
| Time | 8:00 p.m. |
| TV | Bally Sports Sun |
On Thursday evening, the NBA’s four-game slate will begin with a matchup between the Miami Heat and Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center. Entering play, Miami is 14-15 and currently owns the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Houston owns the second worst record in the Western Conference at 9-18, but they have been playing better of late – winning six of their last 10 contests. In this matchup, oddsmakers are expecting a closely-contested affair, pricing the Heat as 3.5-point road favorites on the spread.
Miami Heat
Though the Heat have been a perennial contender for the last two decades, the early returns from this group in the new campaign have been less than impressive, especially on the road. When playing away from South Beach this season, Miami is only 5-9, having been outscored by 3.3 points per 100 possessions,
Adding to the difficulty tonight is the fact that the Heat will be on a back-to-back after a 110-108 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder last night. Per Anthony Chiang, Dewayne Dedmon, Kyle Lowry, Victor Oladipo, and Gabe Vincent have been ruled out tonight. Bam Adebayo and Calen Martin are listed as questionable, leaving the possibility that Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro will be the only two core members of the offense available for this battle.
Per Court IQ, when Lowry and Oladipo are both off of the floor this season, Butler is averaging 22.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per 36 minutes of action. In those situations, Herro is averaging 17.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per 36 minutes.
Houston Rockets
Following a 3-14 start to the season, Houston has shown significant improvement across their last 10 games, winning six times. In that span, the Rockets rank 16th in the NBA in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Still, Houston ranks only 20th in Net Rating during that stretch of action, and has been outscored by 1.8 points per 100 possessions.
One area of strength for this young Rockets’ team has been their performance on the boards, ranking 1st in the the league in rebound percentage since Thanksgiving. Yet, the youth on the roster continues to manifest in a number of careless mistakes – evident by the fact that this group also ranks 30th in turnover percentage during that time period.
On the defensive end of the floor, Houston continues to be extremely vulnerable defending the perimeter, but they have done a good job keeping their opponent off of the free throw line in recent weeks – ranking 7th in opponent free throw attempts per game.
Heat vs. Rockets – Picks & Predictions
Bettors should be mindful of the injury report ahead of tip-off to ensure that there are no major surprises from the Miami Heat, but assuming that everyone who has not already been ruled out suits-up – Miami is the better basketball team in this spot. Despite their early season struggles, the Heat are a team with championship aspirations playing a team that is likely to end up in the lottery again this upcoming summer. After back-to-back wins, Miami is carrying some positive momentum into this matchup and should be able to get the job done.
PICK: Heat -3.5 (-107, PointsBet)
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