NBA: Miami Heat vs. Golden State Warriors Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Golden State Warriors are coming back home to play against the East powerhouse, the Miami Heat. These two units are among the best in the league and the rivals for the top spots in their respective conferences and the Larry O’Brien trophy as well. We expect to see one interesting and enjoyable game, with an intense basketball on the court of the Chase Center. Miami might be tired following last night’s event in Portland, but that won’t be an explanation in case of their loss.

Preview

Miami Heat (2-3, +250) inflicted the first loss of the year to the Portland Trail Blazers. The final result of the last night’s event was 119-98 for the Heat, who was excellent in all aspects of the game, and much better than in the previous events. Still, we need to add that Erik Spoelstra’s crew had a crowded schedule, so in some way, the current record can be understood.

Against the Trail Blazers, the entire starting lineup had a similar number of buckets, plus, Max Strus came off the bench to score 16 buckets and add some rhythm. Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler scored 17 buckets each, Tyler Herro 14 and Caleb Martin 16. The best scorer of the Heat was Bam Adebayo, with 18 points, adding eight boards as well.

The Heat made 15 threes and limited the Blazers to just 38 boards, while they themselves had 46. What is very important to add is that Miami had 33 assists, displaying a solid transition.

Golden State Warriors (2-2, -320) were ripped into pieces in Phoenix, where the Suns trashed the champions 134-105. This was one of the worst losses for the Warriors in the past few years, and there was even some frustration shown on their side, with Klay being ejected and Green again making dirty moves, which could result in injuries among the Suns’ players.

Steve Kerr’s crew has two wins and two losses, beating the Lakers and the Kings at home while losing to the Denver Nuggets also at the Chase Center and, in the most recent event, to the Suns.

Six of the Warriors’ players had 10 or more points against the Suns, Steph 21, Poole, 17, and Wiggins, 16 were the best among them. The Suns opened the game better and didn’t create some high difference, but they had one hell of a finish outscoring the rivals 61-39 in the second half. The Warriors had only 17 free throws, while the Suns recorded twice as many.

Head to Head

The Warriors were better in both of the last year’s meetings. They would first beat the Heat in San Francisco, 115-108, and after that on the road in Florida, 118-104.

Prediction

The line for the total number of points is set at 225.5, and from our perspective, this is over. The Heat plays fast basketball against teams who prefer such an approach, especially on the road. As for the Warriors, they will be in attack mode here, and if they have decent percentages from the three-point territory, we expect them to score at least 115 points. So to conclude, over 225.5 points.

Pick: Over 225.5 points