Off a 3-0 sweep on opening night! Let's crush the sportsbooks again tonight!
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NBA Pick: Washington Wizards @ Miami Heat
Rating: 3 units - Single Dime Play
Pick: Miami Heat (-3,5)
Odds: -105 / 1.95 on Pinnacle OR -110 / 1.91 on 5Dimes OR -102 / 1.98 on Matchbook
Detailed Writeup:
Washington didn't impress me at all during the preseason. Their offense was too stagnant with zero flow and honestly that's quite normal, as Wall used to have Beal (injured), Ariza (now in Houston) and Webster on the corners and now, they aren't there. Therefore, the Wizards will need time to put their offense back into an acceptable level and most importantly, they need Beal to recover from injury, as he's their only excellent shooter. Things only got worse after their preseason brawl in the game against the Bulls, where Nene and Blair got suspended for tonight's game. Of course that now without two of their main frontcourt players, and also considering Miami's small ball mentality, Washington will be forced to play small tonight. In fact, even Paul Pierce said that he spent a lot of time playing at the PF position at practice to get ready for tonight's smaller than usual lineup.
So, the question in here is to know if by playing small, aren't the Wizards falling into Miami's trap, a team that has been playing with stretch PF's for three seasons in a row, while Washington will just do it tonight out of pure necessity? Not just Nene and Blair are suspended, as Humphries is also playing limited with a hand injury. Washington will then use Temple at the SG position, a defensive specialist to guard Wade, but the problem is that Temple has zero offensive skills and this will allow the Heat's backcourt defense to put extra pressure on Wall tonight. Even though Lebron is gone, Miami is a very well coached, led by three very experienced players in their lineup: Bosh, Deng and Wade. The Heat will explore Washington's weaknesses well, especially in the Wizards' offense, allowing Miami to comfortably beat a Washington team that will be missing some key players due to injuries and suspensions. Therefore, I'm taking Miami tonight.