NBA Gambling: OKC vs Miami
The Oklahoma City Thunder (20-20) are still a few games back from the last playoff spot in the West. They head on the road to play the Miami Heat (18-22) who are holding onto a playoff spot in the East. As always, visit Cappers Picks daily for our free NBA picks all season long.
It goes to show you the disparity between the two conferences.
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OKC vs Miami
When: Tuesday, Jan 20th 2015 at 7:35pm ET
Where: AmericanAirlines Arena
TV: Sun Sports & FS-Oklahoma
NBA Gambling Line: Thunder –6.5
NBA Gambling O/U Line: 199 Points
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The Heat are 7th in the East with a record well under .500 whereas the Thunder are 3.5 games back from a playoff spot in the West currently.
These two teams were both off on MLK Day yesterday, so they’re well rested. The Thunder are healthy, but the Heat come into this game banged up. Wade is probable to play while Deng is questionable.
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Last week the Thunder went 2-1 with a loss to the Rockets plus wins over the Warriors and Magic. The win over GSW was needed to build up some confidence after the loss to the Rockets the night prior.
I’m pretty high on the Thunder in the second half of the season. This is a playoff contender that will do what they have to do in order to make the playoffs with the best possible seed that they can salvage.
OKC is scoring 100.2 PPG (18th) while giving up 98.8 PPG (12th). Durant and Westbrook lead the way on offense. Both players are averaging just over 25.0 PPG and it’s good to see them both healthy again.
All of the focus is on these two superstars in OKC, but the team ranks 1st in rebounds (46.8 RPG) thanks to the depth that they have in their frontcourt. Ibaka and Adams both average over 7.0 RPG this season.
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Miami has done one thing well this season and that’s play defense, as they only allow 97.2 PPG (4th). It’s great that they’re playing hard on defense, but they rank poorly in most other statistical categories.
The Heat average 93.5 PPG (28th), 37.0 RPG (30th) and 20.1 APG (27th). Wade and Bosh are both scoring over 20.0 PPG, but Whiteside has been the most impressive player on this roster the past little while.
He has busted out in a big way and he has quickly become a player with huge upside.
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If Whiteside gets 25+ minutes I think the Heat will be able to hang around, as he’ll really help on them the glass.
Free NBA Pick: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Miami Heat
It looks like Wade will play, which will boost the Heat offense, but I doubt Bosh will get going with Ibaka covering him. The Thunder’s offense has been playing much better with the addition of Waiters.
Oklahoma City Thunder –6.5 (-110)
They needed a scoring SG and that’s exactly what he provides. OKC knows that they can’t afford to lose games like this if they want to keep pace in the West. I expect a strong performance from them tonight.
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