As mentioned earlier, the Heat are still the 1 seed in the East, but they are currently in the middle of a slump. They’ve lost 3 straight, all in pretty bad fashion too. They lost to a Sixers team without Joel Embiid and James Harden, to the Warriors without Steph Curry, and just last night they were outscored by the Knicks by 23 (!) points in the 4th quarter to lose by 8.
With all that said, the Nets are currently 4 point favorites in this game, with the over/under at 230.5
So, it makes sense why the Nets are such heavy favorites. If you are so incli ned to take the Heat moneyline, it would make sense to do so on Caesars Sportsbook at +145 odds.
The Heat are a tough minded team, so it wouldn’t be a total shock to see them get it together and take down the Nets tonight. They have legitimate issues to work through, though. I’ve mentioned their 3 game skid, but one part not mentioned is the intra-squad fighting that went on between Jimmy Butler and head coach Eric Spoelstra as well as Heat legend Udonis Haslem.
I tend to not make a huge deal out of stuff like that, because players and coaches can get emotional in the heat (no pun intended) of a game. The history surrounding Jimmy Butler does make this somewhat concerning, but overall I still trust the Heat to get it together.
Will they get it together against the most talented team in the NBA, featuring a fully healthy Kevin Durant and a now allowed to play in home games Kyrie Irving? Both players in which have been playing phenomenally recently? Tha t I am skeptical of.