The Portland Trail Blazers visit AmericanAirlines Arena to take on the Miami Heat. The game gets underway at 1:00 pm ET on Sunday, Dec. 20 and will air on SUN and CNW.
The Heat lost to the Raptors 108-94 on Friday. Goran Dragic played well for Miami, finishing with 18 points, five assists, and two rebounds. The Trail Blazers, meanwhile, are coming off a 102-94 loss at the hands of the Magic on Friday. C.J. McCollum had a game-high 27 points.
McCollum has been on fire over the last five games for the Trail Blazers, averaging 23.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 3.2 three-pointers.
The aggressive Heat offense seems focused on getting to the foul line. They rank fifth in the NBA at getting to the stripe (free throw attempt rate of 30.5), while Portland is among the league’s most foul-prone squads (giving up a 28th-ranked free throw attempt rate of 31.6). Moreover, the Trail Blazers are among the NBA’s elite on the offensive backboards, ranking fifth in offensive rebound percentage at 25.9%. But the Heat rank fifth at corralling defensive rebounds with a defensive rebound percentage of 78.1%.
The Heat are a six-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 194 points. The Heat look to build on their records of 15-10 Straight Up (SU) and 11-13-1 Against The Spread (ATS). They have a record of 7-1 SU and 4-3-1 ATS versus the Western Conference. Teams routinely struggle to score points against the Heat, who allow only 95.0 points per home game. The Heat are the top team in the league at blocking shots, averaging 7.1 blocks per game. Expect Miami to have lots of opportunities at the line against the Trail Blazers, who are one of the most foul-prone teams in the league with an average of 22.8 fouls per game.
On the other side, the Trail Blazers head into the game with records of 14-14 ATS and 11-17 SU. In Eastern Conference games, Portland has gone 1-7 SU and 2-6 ATS.
The Heat and the Trail Blazers will be facing off in their first head-to-head clash of the season. When they last met the Heat were winners, bringing their SU record to 6-4 over the Trail Blazers in the last 10 games. The teams have an even record ATS, 5-5.
Predictions: SU Winner – Por, ATS Winner – Por, O/U – Under
Notes
Miami is 2-4-1 ATS in its last 7 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 18 of Miami’s last 24 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Miami’s last 6 games at home.
Miami is 12-5 SU in its last 17 games at home.
Miami is 3-7-1 ATS in its last 11 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Miami’s last 15 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Miami’s last 11 games when playing Portland.
Miami is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Portland.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Miami’s last 6 games when playing at home against Portland.
Portland puts up 101.3 points per game (ranked 15th), but Miami typically gives up only 94.4 points per game (ranked second).
Portland puts up an average of 98.0 points per away game (ranked 22nd), while Miami gives up 95.0 points per home game (ranked second).
The Portland Trail Blazers have a winning 7-3 record when their opponents score fewer than 100 points this season. The Miami Heat are 8-9 when they score less than 100.
When allowing 100 or more points in a game, the Trail Blazers are just 4-14 this season. Miami is an exceptional 7-1 when registering triple digits.
The Heat have a defensive rating of 98.4, third-best in the NBA. The Trail Blazers also rank in the top half of the league for their offensive rating of 103.4 (ranked ninth).
Miami has an average field goal percentage of 46.2% (ranked fourth). Portland is an abysmal 1-8 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Miami Heat rank higher for their field goal percentage (fourth) than they do for their effective field goal percentage (11th). The Portland Trail Blazers rank higher for their effective field goal percentage (10th) than they do for their field goal percentage (15th).
Miami makes an average of 19.6 assists per game (ranked 25th). Portland ranks higher in assists with 20.5 (ranked 22nd).
Miami averages a league-best 7.1 blocks per game. Portland ranks 25th with 4.1 blocks per game.
The Miami Heat rank 27th in offensive rebounding, while the Portland Trail Blazers rank 12th in defensive rebounding.
On average, Miami makes 6.4 steals per game. Portland is a losing 7-14 when it allows at least 6 steals.
