Heat vs Warriors NBA Handicapping
Come playoff time all the problems that the Miami Heat are now experiencing may be long forgotten. No one will be worried about motivation, because it’ll be the playoffs and everyone will be “up.”
Miami Heat (24-12) at Golden State Warriors (23-13)
Wednesday, Jan. 16
Oracle Arena, Oakland, Calif.
10:30 p.m. EST
Odds: Miami -2
Over/Under: 204 at Bovada
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No one will worry about being small, because even Chris Bosh will hit the boards.
No one will worry about the defense, because everyone will be in lockdown mode.
But that’s then and this is now, and there is some worry about a Heat team that has lost three of four as its stumbles on the road, a team that in the last 10 games has only two non-overtime victories.
Because Miami is losing late at night on the West Coast and because other top teams in the East are also struggling, the Heat’s stumbling, bumbling ways haven’t drawn much attention.
And losing a few, especially on the road, is really not all that bad for the league because it amounts to throwing a bone or two to fans in other cities.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra is in the no-win position of having to motivate a small team to play hard on defense and force turnovers, and when LeBron & Co. choose to go at 85 percent instead of belly button to the wall, there’s not much Spoelstra can do about it except ask them again in the next game. [ad-6571516]
Spoelstra has been drawing fire for sitting both Bosh and Dwyane Wade for most of the fourth period of the Heat’s 104-97 loss in Utah, later explaining that he thought that a lineup of James, Ray Allen, Joel Anthony, Rashard Lewis and Mario Chalmers could provide more energy than one with Bosh and Wade. Ouch.
Heat aside: Unless James gets into early foul trouble (right) or gets hurt, tonight he will become the youngest (28 years, 17 days) player in NBA history to score 20,000 career points.
With the Heat were unable to hang with the Jazz in the late going, at least Wade and Bosh got some extra rest and should be good to go 35 to 40 tonight against Warriors, who a month ago won their fifth straight road game when they went into Miami and took down the Heat despite a rare off shooting night from Stephen Curry (4 for 10).
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Until the last week the Warriors were the most reliable cover team in the league, and they’re still 20-15-1 despite being unable to cover the number in any of the last four games (three SU losses).
GS’s Curry is dealing with some knee pain that limited him in practice on Tuesday and caused oddsmakers to wait before posting a line.
He’s expected to play, but no one knows how much or how effective he’ll be. Indicators are pointed toward the rested Heat.
MIAMI 97, WARRIORS 95.
