Free NBA Pick: Heat vs. Trail Blazers NBA Odds
Looking for Miami Heat vs. Portland Trail Blazers free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Heat taking on the Trail Blazers on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 at the Moda Center in Portland, OR. 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 Trail Blazers matchup.
2022 NBA Handicapping
(1-3) Miami Heat vs. Portland Trail Blazers (4-0)
Date: Wednesday, October 26
Time: 10:00 PM EST
Venue: Moda Center, Portland, OR
NBA Moneyline Odds: Heat +100 | Trail Blazers -120 (Bet Now!)
NBA Betting Odds: POR -1.5
NBA Betting Total: 221
The Trail Blazers are one of the league’s genuine surprises to start the season. They’re the last remaining undefeated team and they enter this contest as 1.5-point home favorites.
It’s Miami, though, favored in 62.8 percent of ESPN’s Matchup Predictor simulations.
This will be Portland’s second game in a row at home and the Heat’s first road game of the year.
Miami Heat
Miami had the benefit of four straight games at home to tip off 2022-23, but their opponents didn’t exactly make the slate favorable. After back-to-back losses to the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics, the Heat hosted the Raptors two contests in a row, splitting the two outings.
For those keeping track at home, that’s an underwhelming 1-3 start for a Miami team still maintaining the ninth-best title odds at +1775.
For anyone who read the Heat’s schedule and thought this first road trip to Portland would be a reprieve, things have changed. Miami will have a real contest—dare I say a real contender?—on their hands.
The key to beating Portland, as it’s been for years, will be slowing down Damian Lillard. The All-Star guard is probably at his physical peak fully recovered from an abdomen injury, and while he has a new, refreshing supporting cast this season, he’s still the head of the snake for the Trail Blazers.
That starts in the halfcourt, as Lillard is a high-usage, ball-dominant guard. But we know the Heat can girt their way to wins, so the real key will be keeping Lillard and the Blazers from getting out in transition where they average twice as many fastbreak points as Miami so far.
Portland Trail Blazers
Getting ahead of Dame Time really is the goal for any opponent entering Moda. But the Blazers have had the luxury of already seeing others contribute from this new-look rotation.
Starting with Anfernee Simons, the Blazers have new scorers to take the pressure off of Lillard for stretches and add pressure to opposing defenses for 48 minutes. Jerami Grant has been in the right spots on both ends of the court. Josh Hart’s proving he’s still a stat-sheet stuffer in whatever role he needs to fill.
Portland has covered the spread in every game this season, underdogs in every one, while the Heat have yet to cover.
This will be Portland’s first time entering a game as the favorite in 2022-23.
NBA Betting Trends:
- Heat are 0-7 ATS in their last 7 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Trail Blazers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall.
- Under is 8-1 in Trail Blazers last 9 overall
- Under is 6-0 in Trail Blazers last 6 games playing on 1 days rest.
- Under is 5-1 in Heat last 6 games playing on 1 days rest.
- Heat are 6-2 ATS in the last 8 meetings.
Free Miami Heat vs. Portland Trail Blazers NBA Prediction:
The Blazers opened as 2.5-point favorites but the line has since shifted to -1.5. It’s not going to slip into pick-em territory, but Game 5 could be where we see Portland slip back down to earth just a bit.
If Miami can control the tempo and turn this into a low-scoring slog of a contest, that should counter the Blazers’ free-flowing offensive approach, and it should be what gets the Heat a win in their first road outing of the year.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: MIA +1.5
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