Miami Heat at New Orleans Pelicans Betting Preview
Miami will be in New Orleans to play the Pelicans as each team finishes their first-half slate of games. The Pels just took a loss to Chicago, so they will look to avoid back-to-back defeats before having a week off. When these teams first met on Christmas, Miami picked up a 111-98 win in spite of Jimmy Butler leaving early with an injury.
It is currently unclear if Jimmy Butler will be playing, but it is apparent that the team is much better when he is out there. They are just a single game under .500, after teetering in far worse territory for a large chunk of the season. A victory for Miami in Thursday’s first-half finale can net them a .500 record heading into the break.
New Orleans, meanwhile, has had a year that is hard to assess. They sit at 15-20 and still seem to be having some roster issues. Steven Adams can be very effective some nights and invisible on others. There is no stretch, big man the team can insert to fix the problems because they do not have one. Jaxson Hayes finished the game for the team on Wednesday after sitting out the first half.
ODDS:
The spread for the primetime showdown is Pelicans -4. The over/under is set at 224.5 points.
Heat Looking for .500 Record
Oddsmakers chose the Pelicans as the favorite, likely meaning that to them, Jimmy Butler won’t be playing. If he does, in fact, suit up, it would be hard to bet against Miami. They have been up-and-down because Jimmy’s health hasn’t been great through these first 35 games. When he’s out there, he’s good enough to lead them to the NBA Finals.
Bam Adebayo is also feeling snubbed from the All-Star game, putting up better statistics than he did a season ago. For most of the non-All-Stars, there were just too many players to pick from. And Bam is just a casualty of a season where there were as many players snubbed as there were selected to play.
Miami has been better since Goran Dragic returned to the lineup, so look for him to play well against New Orleans.
Pelicans Looking for Rhythm
Eric Bledsoe logged 42 minutes against Chicago to Lonzo Ball’s 26. Generally speaking, it has been Lonzo getting more run than his counterpart, so the flip of the switch on the minutes was certainly interesting. Both of them are on the trading block right now, though each could remain in NOLA through the end of the March 26 deadline. It’s hard to say for sure.
The key is still going to be how they win with more than Ingram and Zion. The two of them are having great seasons, but the supporting cast is just so inconsistent. They could really use Jrue Holiday on this team, as he can create his own looks and score at will. They also need a legitimate starting center. No disrespect to Steven Adams, but this experiment is failing.
Can New Orleans bounce back?
Heat Get the Win
Sorry Pels, but this won’t be your day to win. The Heat will win on the road.
FREE PLAY: HEAT +4
OVER/UNDER: UNDER 224.5
