Free NBA Pick: Heat vs. Lakers NBA Odds
Looking for Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Heat taking on the Lakers on Saturday, February 20th, 2021 at Staples 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 Lakers matchup.
2021 NBA Handicapping
(12-17) Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers (22-8)
Date: Saturday, February 20th
Time: 8:30 PM EST
Venue: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
NBA Moneyline Odds: Heat +135 | Lakers -145
NBA Betting Odds: Lakers -3
NBA Betting Total: 212.5
Saturday, February 20th, the Miami Heat will play the Los Angeles Lakers in the first meeting between last season’s NBA Finals pairing.
The Lakers hold the all-time record having won 37 matches of the 64 played. Last season, the squads played twice with the Los Angeles winning both contests.
Miami Heat
When the league released the first half of the schedule many fans marked this game to witness the 2020 NBA Finals teams’ first game versus each other in this campaign.
Then the Heat struggled out of the gate with a combination of injuries, players felled by COVID-19, and the fatigue hangover of playing late into the season. Conversely, the Lakers hit the ground running holding the top spot in the West until recently.
Entering this match, the situation is vastly different as the Heat have Jimmy Butler back and have won five of their last eight games.
They are still managing injuries with Avery Bradley out until month-end and Goran Dragic dealing with a wonky ankle but they look to be ready to make a dent in the win column.
In their most recent game, the Heat defeated the Kings 118-110 with both Jimmy Butler (13 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds) and Bam Adebayo (16 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) both producing triple-doubles.
All five starters plus Tyler Herro (27) registered double-figure scoring efforts.
Los Angeles Lakers
In contrast to the Heat, the Lakers have struggled in recent weeks and while they went on a seven-game win streak they were pushed to overtime in three successive games by lottery teams.
The more concerning news is Anthony Davis will be out until the end of March with Achilles tendinosis and a calf injury. The Lakers have lost two of their last three games and seem to have hit a bit of a wall.
With his former teammate in town, LeBron James tried to push his squad against Kyrie Irving and the Nets but was unable to get his shorthanded team to produce enough on either end of the hardwood.
James did hit a milestone in the match becoming the third player in NBA history (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone) to score 35,000 points. He registered 32 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in the loss and shot 1 of 6 from deep.
With AD out Kyle Kuzma got the start and produced a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell (10) were the only players to join LeBron with double-figure scoring efforts.
LA was also missing Dennis Schroder as he deals with health and safety protocols making his presence uncertain for this game. Markieff Morris (ankle) is also day-to-day.
Kostas Antetokounmpo (right knee tendinitis) remains out with no clear timetable for a return to the lineup.
NBA Betting Trends:
- The Lakers are 8-2 in the teams last 10 head to head meetings
- The Heat are 6-4 ATS in the last 10 head to head meetings
- Over/Under is 3-7 in the teams last 10 head to head meetings
Free Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers NBA Prediction:
With the Lakers likely missing two of their top three scorers (Davis, Schroder) the Heat are meeting them at the perfect time to steal a win in LA.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Heat +3
While LeBron will always battle he needs others to step up and help. Davis is the main loss but Schroder is equally concerning because he offers scoring as well as energy which is something the Lakers appear to be in short supply of in recent games.
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