The NBA Finals continue on Sunday night in Game 3 between the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat. The NBA Finals odds for the game have the home town Heat favored by a spread of 4.5 points. The game is scheduled for an 8:00 pm start time and it will be televised live on ABC. The spread shows that bookmakers have a prediction of a close win at home for the Heat, taking a comfortable 2-1 series lead in the Finals.
Picks: LeBron and the Heat came up big in Game 2 of this series, stealing away home court advantage and picking up a hard fought win in Oklahoma City. Now the club has to protect against that as the Thunder roll in for the third, fourth and fifth games of the Finals in Miami. Believe it or not, the Heat actually have a chance to close out the series at home if they can win the next three games. We aren't saying it's going to happen, but it could. But remember, the Heat were able to have home court stolen away from them last season in the Finals by Dallas. Miami did win Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead, so the Heat are probably hoping and counting on history to repeat itself, if only for tonight. A win tonight, on the other hand, doesn't exactly prove or guarantee anything moving forward. The Heat won Game 3 last year in the Finals and it ended up being their last win of the season as the Mavericks reeled off three in a row to win the NBA Title. But then again, the winning team tonight will only be two wins away from clinching an NBA championship. The two squads have been pretty close statistically in the opening two games, which should come as no surprise. Each team is connecting for 47 percent of their shots, both have made 14 triples and the rebounding is nearly identical as well. I'm not sure the Thunder are really panicking just yet. I wouldn't expect them too. If Miami can learn from last year's Finals it will definitely help them moving forward here in this series, but don't expect OKC to just give up because they are now playing on the road. I don't think there will be any desperation in that club either. At least not yet. LeBron James came up big for the Heat down the stretch, including back to back impressive offensive possessions late in the game. We know that Russel Westbrook is going to keep jacking up shots, he said so in the press conference following Game 2. We know Kevin Durant is going to come hard as he always does. Yet, can the duo corral their emotions together and play well enough to stay close tonight?
Prediction: I think the Heat hammer OKC in this game. Sure, the opening two games have been very close but I like the Heat coming back home with a game in hand already. Miami has been an impressive team at home all year and I am expecting them to play well in front of the hometown fans tonight. James proved in Game 2 that he can actually show up late in games and prove to be a difference. The question for me is what will Dwayne Wade do? He's been awful quiet so far in the series, but I think he has a monster game tonight. Heat 100, Thunder 88
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Betting Strategies: Handicapping NBA PlayoffsHost Marco D'Angelo and Pregame Pro Vegas Runner discuss their strategies about betting the NBA Playoffs and being successful.