The NBA Playoffs continue Thursday night in Game 6 between the visiting Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers. The NBA Playoff odds for the game have the Heat favored by 3 points. The game is scheduled for a 8:00 pm start time and it will be televised live on ESPN. The spread shows that bookmakers have a prediction of a close road win for the Heat.

Picks: Miami has a chance to close out the series tonight, albeit on the road, and advance to their second consecutive Eastern Conference Championship. Indiana, a big and powerful team, was neutralized by LeBron James and the Heat's ability to run the floor in Game 5. Larry Bird called the Pacers a "soft" team that didn't play like a playoff caliber squad and it appears in the local papers that they took it to heart. "I agree with his assessment. We did play soft," Indiana's Danny Granger said Wednesday. "We got smacked around. We got beat up, we got bullied, and we really didn't respond well." We also have some suspensions reigning down from the NBA. Udonis Haslem and Dexter Pittman, both Heat reserve big men, will miss tonight's contest. Pittman has been docked three games total. His suspension might not matter at all to the Heat. He's only played six minutes the entire playoffs to date. If the Pacers can take advantage of Miami down two big men, they might have a chance here tonight. Indiana's Tyler Hansbrough was not suspended but did receive a flagrant 2 foul for his beatdown of Dwyane Wade. Haslem's foul was in direct retaliation to Hansbrough cold-cocking Wade in the head. Yet, Haslem sits Thursday and Hansbrough probably will play. That could prove to make some nasty time on the floor tonight. We've got two teams jawing back and forth at each other and Granger said in the media he thought the suspensions were "warranted" for Haslem and Pittman. However, Granger leads everyone with three technical fouls. Granger might not play anyway, dealing with an ankle problem. This series has been an absolute war. There were 66 free throws shot in the opening game of the series and there have been a combined nine technicals and flagrants called in the four games since. James said he doesn't expect things to cool down when the Pacers try to save their season in Game 6, either. Why should they lay down now? So we know going in this game is going to be physical. Which team stays out of foul trouble?

Prediction: I like the Heat to close out this series tonight and march on to the ECF. LeBron has somehow stepped up and played well in the later games in this series and I think he has a monster game again tonight. Indiana could pose some problems with the Heat in the middle because of the suspensions, but now is the time Wade and James need to step up and dominate. Indiana is battling through some own issues with Granger and David West having some nagging injuries and they could prove to be even more costly than Miami's injuries. With that, we'll take the BETTER team. Miami 94, Indiana 88

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NBA Free Picks: Miami Heat at Indiana Pacers - Game 6 Betting
What NBA bettors need to know about Pacers at Heat Game 6 - Including a free best bet from Pregame.com's Bryan Leonard & host Scott Spreitzer!