Thursday night NBA and we will see the Miami Heat travel to Portland, Oregon to take on the Portland Trailblazers. The game has a start time of 10:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on TNT. Current Vegas betting odds have Portland listed as 8.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 197.  

Analysis: The Miami Heat have not had such a good season so far without Lebron, as they come in with a 15-20 mark on the year, that includes an 8-8 mark on the road. The Heat are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games playing on 3 or more days rest, but 7-19 ATS in their last 26 vs. Western Conference and 1-10-1 ATS in their last 12 games following a S.U. win. Miami has not been a good offensive squad this year, ranking 27th in scoring (94.1 ppg), 9th in shooting, 15th in 3 point shooting and 25th in FT shooting. The defense for this team has been solid this year, ranking 10th in points allowed (98.2 ppg), 28th in defensive FG% and 25th in 3 point defense. 

After a mediocre 3-3 start to the season, the Portland Trailblazers have been one of the hottest teams in the league as they have reeled off 24 wins in their last 29 games. With their 27-8 overall record they currently lead the Northwest division by 10 games over 2nd place Oklahoma City. The Trailblazers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a losing S.U. record and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a S.U. win, but just 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games playing on 2 days rest.  Portland has been a very good offensive team this year, ranking 6th in scoring (103.9 ppg), 17th in shooting, 4th in 3 point shooting and 2nd in FT shooting. Defensively the Trailblazers have been excellent, ranking 2nd in points allowed (97.0 ppg), 3rd in defensive FG% and 1st in 3 point defense. 

Pick: Gonna go with the Trailblazers. Teams had been at the mercy of the Heat for the last few years, so when a team gets a chance for some payback you can bet they will take it. The Blazers are a very good team, especially at home where they are 16-3 on the year and outscored their foes by 9.4 ppg. The Blazers have won 10 of their last 12 games, while Miami is 1-4 i their last 5 games and have been outscored by 10.4 ppg in those games. Two teams headed in opposite directions and with Portland taking it on the chin the last couple of years vs Miami, I will look for them to get a measure of revenge in front of the national audience.   

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