Updated NBA Finals Odds and Betting Picks for Lakers vs. Heat
We have upated NBA Finals odds, picks and basketball betting tips for the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Miami Heat. Will LeBron James win yet another ring or can Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and a sharp-shooting Miami Heat team upset the King?
Lakers vs. Heat NBA Finals Odds
Lakers vs. Heat NBA Finals Betting Preview
The 2020 NBA Finals tip off Wednesday night, as LeBron James makes his 10th championship appearance. Four of James’ Finals berths were with the team and coach he’ll face for the next four to seven games, the Miami Heat and Erik Spoelstra.
Proving that he wasn’t just a product of James, Spoelstra has successfully led a team that finished 5th in the Eastern conference to the NBA Finals, beating the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and a tough Boston Celtics team along the way.
Since the NBA Finals continue to be held inside the bubble, LeBron won’t be making any trips to what is now hostile territory in South Beach, but the James vs. Miami/Spoelstra will be the leading narrative throughout the series, however many games it lasts.
For what it’s worth, oddsmakers at DraftKings Sportsbook think the Lakers win this in five, pricing the 4-1 exact series price at +275, the shortest odds of the eight possible combinations.
To win the series itself, the Lakers are -357 favorites at FOX Bet after opening closer to -440. Bettors have taken a liking to the Miami Heat, and reasonably so.
The Heat are the second-largest NBA Finals underdog since the NBA merger in 1976, but they match up better with the Lakers than odds at online sportsbooks suggest.
The Lakers, led by James and Anthony Davis, live inside the restricted area. Los Angeles averages a league-high 37 points per game inside the paint. However, the Lakers might not be able to have their way down low in this NBA Finals series.
The Heat’s defense, led by Bam Adebayo, has routinely slowed down opposing offenses that look for high percentage shots close to the basket. As Spoelstra has shown, he’s not afraid to turn to a zone defense if need be — and that may be exactly what’s needed against the two-headed monster made of James and Davis.
Moreover, Miami also has one of the best transition defenses in the NBA, which they’ll need to slow down the Lakers, who average the fourth-most transition points in the league.
And while the Lakers clearly have the best duo in the series, it’s the Heat who have the best supporting cast, made up of Goran Dragic, Duncan Robinson, and rising star Tyler Herro, not to mention veterans in Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala. All five players will have a role if the Heat are to upset the Lakers.
The latter two will be tasked in slowing James while Dragic, Robinson and Herro will try to stay on fire from the perimeter. The trio helped turn the Heat into a dangerous three-point shooting team. In fact, Miami had the second-best three-point percentage in the league during the regular season, which is the kind of shooting they’ll need to counter the Lakers’ offensive efficiency and ultimately dethrone King James,
Combined, the Heat have the recipe to win the NBA Finals. The question is whether they can put it all together over the next week-in-a-half, starting with a win in Game 1.
Here are the odds for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Updated NBA Finals Betting Tips and Picks
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