Hornets vs. Heat Pick
Are the visiting Charlotte Hornets going to notch the win tonight at the Miami Heat? Game time is 8PM ET.
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Heat are a 2.5-point favorite on the spread line. The total is set at 202 points.
Charlotte comes in with an 8-12 record and 9-10-1 ATS after a 126-113 loss at the Raptors, its third defeat in a row. Miami is 10-11 and 7-12-2 ATS following a 115-86 loss at the Knicks. The four meetings went 2-2 straight up and 2-2 ATS last season. The over-under also went 2-2.
The Hornets were led by Dwight Howard with 22 points along with 10 rebounds and three assists in the loss at Toronto. Frank Kaminsky tallied 18 points, seven boards and two assists off the bench. Jeremy Lamb added 18 points, three rebounds and three assists off the bench. Charlotte was without point guard Kemba Walker, who will be out again tonight. Charlotte was outscored 71-52 in the first half.
Kelly Olynyk had 18 points, five rebounds and two assists off the bench in the loss at New York. Josh Richardson had 13 points, three rebounds and three steals. Tyler Johnson added 13 points, three assists and two steals off the bench. Miami trailed 65-44 at halftime and were outscored in every quarter.
Charlotte is 1-6-1 ATS in its last eight games following a straight up loss. The under is 7-2 in the last nine meetings.
The Hornets are not the same team without Walker, but the same could be said for the Heat as they play without center Hassan Whiteside. But Walker still feels like a bigger loss since he has such a high usage rate, plus Miami has playmakers to get the job done in Whiteside’s absence. We like the hosts to cover the small spread here.
NBA DAILY PREDICTION: MIAMI HEAT -2.5
