The defending champion Miami Heat are in a back to back situation tonight as they face the Golden State Warriors at the ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. Miami, which played in Phoenix last night, is drawing rare underdog status as a result. The latest NBA Odds release has the Heat listed as a +1 against the spread road dog in this evening's showdown with the Warriors. The Over/Under in tonight's game, which is scheduled to get underway at 10:30pm ET on NBA TV, is set at 203.5 points.
The Heat earned their fourth win in their last five games last night as they topped the Suns 103-97 at the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix. LeBron James bounced back in a big way from his lackluster showing in Saturday's shocking loss to Utah.
The 'King' tallied a game high 37 points to go along with nine rebounds, three assists, and five steals in leading Miami past the Suns. The Heat, who were playing without Dwyane Wade (migraine - questionable for tonight's game), shot 47.4 percent from the field in the win.
The Warriors also enter this evening's game off a win as they were the latest team to beat up on the hapless 76ers. Golden State smashed Philadelphia 123-80 at the ORACLE Arena on Monday night to improve to 31-21 overall and 16-9 at home.
Four of Golden State's five starters scored in double figures, including Stephen Curry, who posted 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting, but it was reserve forward Marreese Speights who really gave it to the Sixers. Speights scored a career high 32 points and he did so in just 26 minutes of action.
It would be fool hardy to expect a similar effort from Speights tonight (averaging just 6.1 points per game on the season), but a big showing from Curry would not surprise at all. The four year veteran was huge when the Warriors faced the Heat in Miami last month, scoring 36 points and dishing out 12 assists in Golden State's 123-114 upset of James and company.
Series Notes: Miami has won five of the last eight games in this inter-conference series; however, Golden State has enjoyed the upper hand of late, producing a 3-1 mark in its last four meetings with the Heat.
Notable Trends: The Warriors are 3-4 straight up and 1-6 against the spread in their last seven games as a home favorite coming off a home win (courtesy of Dr. Meyer's SDQL).
NBA Odds Miami Heat vs Golden State Warriors:
Miami Heat +1 (-110), Over 203.5 (-110), -105 (Moneyline)
Golden State Warriors -1 (-110), Under 203.5 (-110), -115 (Moneyline)
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