Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder will look to take down D-Wade and the Miami Heat while covering the NBA Odds spread as slight road favorites when the two championship hopefuls square off at American Airlines Arena on Thursday night. Now, let’s find out which teams will win and cash in!
Oklahoma City Thunder (11-7) @ Miami Heat (10-6) Game Information and NBA Odds
When: Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 7:00 PM ET
Where: American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
TV: TNT, FSOK
NBA Odds: Miami Heat +2
Over/Under: 200.5
GAME DAY!!!!!! Make sure you’re tuned into TNT tonight at 7pm! pic.twitter.com/I6m24lQcKe
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 3, 2015
Oklahoma City Thunder (11-7 SU, 7-11 ATS)
Despite having their four-game winning streak snapped in Monday’s 106-100 loss at Atlanta, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been playing excellent basketball recently.
Russell Westbrook put up a team-high 34 points while Durant added 25 and Serge Ibaka, 17, but the Thunder shot just 39.8 percent from the field in the loss. “Give (Jeff) Teague credit for breaking our defense down and getting to where he needed to be,” said Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan.”Russell carried us offensively in that fourth quarter,” Donovan said. “He got us back to tied and then up by two. We just couldn’t make some shots and finish some plays that we needed to.”
The Thunder have topped the century mark in each of their last five games while holding three of their opponents to 99 points or less and two of those to 89 points or less. OKC is also averaging a healthy 108.9 points on 46.9 percent shooting while allowing 103 points on 43.3 percent shooting.
Kevin Durant is averaging a team-high 28.4 points and 7.4 rebounds while Russell Westbrook is putting up 27.6 points and 9.8 assists per night.The Thunder are shooting 36.2 percent from beyond the arc and 78.7 percent from the free throw line, but have dropped four of their last six road games.
Miami Heat (10-6 SU, 7-9 ATS)
The Miami Heat have dropped two of three including a 105-95 loss against Boston on Monday night. Dwyane Wade put up 30 points in the loss and Chris Bosh chipped in 21, but only one other player reached double figures for Miami in the loss. The Heat allowed six Celtics players to score 13 points or more including Avery Bradley’s team-high 25. “Our offense was inefficient down the stretch,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Heat are averaging 96.2 points per game on 44.9 percent shooting while allowing 92.5 points on 40.8 percent shooting. Dwyane Wade is averaging 18 points and 4.3 assists while Chris Bosh is averaging 17.7 points and 9.1 rebounds. Hassan Whiteside is grabbing 11.2 rebounds per night and leads the league in blocked shots.
Thunder @ Heat NBA Odds Game Analysis:
With the spread being set at just 2.5 points, I really like the Oklahoma City Thunder to get the win and ‘easy’ ATS cover as they rise to the challenge of playing against Wade and Bosh in South Beach.
Oklahoma City has a pair of unstoppable superstars in Durant and Westbrook that are now both a cut above counterparts in Wade and Chris Bosh. The Thunder also have the deeper bench and a really solid head coach in Billy Donovan even if he is in his first season in the league.
The Thunder may be just 2-5 ATS in their last seven road games and a discouraging 1-4 ATS in their last five games against their Eastern Conference counterparts, but Oklahoma City is also 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games against teams from the Southeast division while the favorite in this rivalry has gone an identical 9-4 ATS in the last 13 meetings.
The Heat are just 2-6 ATS in their last eight games and a dismal 1-5 ATS in their last six home games. The pick here is simple…back the Oklahoma City Thunder to win and cash in.
My Pick: Oklahoma City Thunder -2.5