NBA Betting Predictions: Heat Vs Trail Blazers Expert Analysis

The Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers will both look to avoid falling any further in their respective conference standings when they square off at AmericanAirlines Arena on Thursday night. One week ago, both teams were in fourth place in their conference standings. Following a pair of losses for the Blazers and four straight defeats for the struggling Heat, Portland sits in sixth place out west while Miami is in fifth place in the east.

Miami will be desperate to take care of business, but Portland will be highly motivated as well. Now, let’s find out where the best betting value lies in this intriguing matchup so you can bet against their NBA odds.

NBA Betting Picks – Miami Heat at Portland Trail Blazers

When: Thursday, March 25, 2021, at 7:30 PM ET
Where: AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami, FL
TV: TNT, Fox Sports Sun, NBC Sports Northwest
Radio: WAXY 790 / WAQI 710Rip City Radio 620
NBA Odds: Miami -4
Total: 219

With Trio of Teams Hot On Their Heels, Blazers Need Win!

The Blazers are in sixth place in the Western Conference standings, but a trio of teams are hot on their heels. Dallas is 1.5 games back, San Antonio is two games behind and dangerous Memphis is lurking, three games back.

Portland needs a win after dropping two straight including a narrow 116-112 home loss against Brooklyn on Tuesday night. veteran center Enes Kanter posted a double-double of19 points and 19 rebounds and Damian Lillard added 22 points in the loss. However, Lillard and backcourt mate CJ McCollum shot a combined 10-for-35 from the field in the loss.

“I think both teams played real good basketball, both teams competed throughout the beginning of the game, throughout the whole fourth quarter. They just made some extra couple of shots at the end of the quarter,” Kanter said.

The Trail Blazers have split their last six games. The Trail Blazers are 10th in scoring (114.4 ppg), but 27th in points allowed (11

Damian Lillard is averaging a team-high 30.1 points and 7.7 assists per game while CJ McCollum is averaging 23.8 points and 3.8 rebounds. Portland has gone an encouraging 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games as a road underdog and a stellar 12-5-1 ATS in their last 18 road games against a team with a winning home record.

Heat Desperate For A Win In Crowded Eastern Conference!

Miami should be desperate to pick up a win in this contest. The Heat are sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings, but the Knicks and Hawks both have identical 22-22 records while Boston (21-23) is a game back and Indiana (20-23) is 1.5 games back.

The Heat have dropped four straight including a 110-100 home loss against Phoenix on Tuesday night. Young combo guard Kendrick Nunn scored a team-high 25 points for Miami, but Jimmy Butler was held to 14 points and Bam Adebayo, 16 points.

“We’ll keep plugging away until we find the right solutions,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’re certainly better than what we’ve shown over the last four games on the offensive end.”

Miami averages 106.2 points per game to rank an uninspiring 27th in scoring while limiting the opposition to 107.6 points per game defensively (4th). Jimmy Butler is averaging a team-high 21.3 points and 7.3 assists while Bam Adebayo is averaging 19.2 points and 9.5 rebounds. The Heat are 14-5-1 ATS in their last 20 Thursday games and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.

Expert Analysis and Prediction

The Trail Blazers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games and 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games overall, but Miami has gone 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall.

Portland recorded a 115-109 home win the last time these two met on Feb. 9 to snap a three-game losing streak in this series. These two have split their last six meetings both straight-up and against the spread. I’m going with the Blazers to get it done because of their superior offense. Miami has only one 20-point scorer while Portland has two – and the deeper bench as well.

Pick: Portland 111 Miami 106

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