Free NBA Pick: Heat vs. Rockets NBA Odds
Looking for Miami Heat vs. Houston Rockets free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Heat taking on the Rockets on Friday, December 31st, 2021 at the Toyota Center. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Heat Rockets matchup.
2021 NBA Handicapping
(22-13) Miami Heat vs. Houston Rockets (10-25)
Date: Friday, December 31st
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Venue: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
NBA Moneyline Odds: Heat -182 | Rockets +174 (Bet Now!) Moneyline is off
NBA Betting Odds: Heat -4.5
NBA Betting Total: OFF
Friday, December 31st finds the Miami Heat facing the Houston Rockets in their first meeting of the season. They’ll play once more in Miami on March 7th.
The Heat’s Wednesday match was postponed while the Rockets lost 123-132 to the Lakers on Tuesday.
Last season, the squads played twice with the Heat winning both contests. The Heat holds the all-time record having bested the Rockets in 35 of their 68 matches.
Miami Heat
The Heat won the front side of their back-to-back set Tuesday (119-112) versus the Wizards but the Spurs game was postponed because Miami wasn’t able to get eight healthy participants together between players in health and safety protocols and injuries.
Presumably, the extra two days will allow the Heat to sign enough hardship deals to get eight players on the court Friday.
Eight Heat players are in health and safety protocols with Duncan Robinson the newest addition. Of the group, only Kyle Lowry is listed as probable to play Friday and the rest were downgraded to being out.
The other six are PJ Tucker, Udonis Haslem, Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, Marcus Garrett, and Zylan Cheatham.
Jimmy Butler only just returned from missing 12 of 13 games due to a sore tailbone leading the Heat to the victory versus the Wizards with 25 points, 15 assists, eight rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.
Unfortunately, Butler tweaked his ankle with just over a minute remaining and was among those unable to go Wednesday leading to the postponement, and is questionable for Friday.
Omer Yurtseven delivered a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds while Tyler Herro (32) and Max Strus (26) were the other main point producers in the win.
KZ Okpala (wrist) was downgraded to out versus Houston. Four others are out indefinitely including Bam Adebayo (thumb), Dewayne Dedmon (knee), Markieff Morris (neck), and Victor Oladipo (knee).
Houston Rockets
When diving into the Rockets season in order for the statistics to carry any value it’s essential those first 17 matches carry less weight. Otherwise, all the numbers would be skewed and not reflective of the current product on the court.
Part of the issue was the learning curve of many of the youngsters and the time it took head coach Stephen Silas to get the younger players to buy into the system and more importantly their identity.
Looking at the second schedule segment (after the 1-16 portion) the Rockets have played .500 ball posting a 9-9 record. Typical for a young squad they perform better at home (6-3) than on the road (3-6).
Jae’Sean Tate and Garrison Matthews are the two Rockets in health and safety protocols with both questionable for Friday. D.J. Augustin (quad) is also questionable versus Miami while John Wall remains out via a mutually agreed decision to hunt for a trade partner.
NBA Betting Trends:
- The Rockets are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games.
- The Heat are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games.
- The total has gone OVER in 6 of Houston’s last 7 games.
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Miami’s last 6 games.
Free Miami Heat vs. Houston Rockets NBA Prediction:
Much will depend on which players from the Heat core will suit up Friday but if Butler can go to join Lowry and Herro that should be enough firepower to counter whatever the Rockets offer.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Heat -4.5
If you’re looking for more NBA picks like this Miami Heat vs. Houston Rockets matchup we’ll be providing 4* free NBA predictions on the blog during the entire NBA season, and check out our Experts for guaranteed premium & free NBA predictions!
Register here for a FREE NBA Betting Account Now for Daily Free Picks & More Special Offers!