Charlotte Bobcats (27-31) vs. Miami Heat (42-14)
Monday March 3
American Airlines Arena – Miami, FL
7:30PM
Moneyline:No moneyline currently listed
Spread: Miami -11.5
Total: 196.5
Charlotte
The Bobcats have been a pleasant surprise this season. [ad-4468020]
They are still a few games under .500 but they are currently in 7th place in the Eastern Conference and with Atlanta sinking behind them in the Southeast Division their prospects look really good. However, this is still a flawed team with little margin for error and it wouldn’t shock me if they missed the playoffs altogether. Anything is possible.
He won’t win the MVP award but Al Jefferson is having a hell of season with Charlotte and who knows where they would be without him. He hasn’t averaged 20/10 in 5 seasons and he is doing it on a team that really doesn’t have a lot of great scoring options. One guy they are hoping to get some immediate help from is Gary Neal. He has been freed from Milwaukee and they are hoping he can contribute like he did in San Antonio last year.
Schedule makers are not doing the Bobcats any favours having them in Oklahoma CIty and then Miami in back to back games. Charlotte will try and use their impressive defense to keep this one close but they just don’t have the firepower to trade blows with the defending champs. Jefferson is just not enough.
Miami
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The Heat are on another roll. They have won 7 in a row, keeping the heat (no pun intended) on Indiana. As I said before the schedule makers are being cruel for this one with Charlotte on a back to back against two top teams while Miami chills at home after a light workout against Orlando. Miami almost never loses at home too with a 23-4 record. They might not be motivated for this one but they are well set up for a victory.
One of the reasons Jefferson has no shot at the MVP is because of LeBron James, who is among many having fantastic seasons this year. James is all everything for the Heat these days as Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh fall even further into support roles. One guy who always amazes me is The Birdman Chris Anderson. When he is on the floor things happen and he is often at the center of the action.
As good as Miami is at home they have been a terrible bet at 10-16-1 ATS on the season. Within their current streak they are 2-0-1 ATS so maybe they are hitting their stride and getting tired of toying with the opponents that just shouldn’t be able to compete with a properly motivated Miami team. These guys are the two time champs after all.
Spread prediction: Miami -11.5
Total Prediction: Over
Score prediction: Miami 107 – Charlotte 92
