Free NBA Pick: Thunder vs. Heat NBA Odds
Looking for OKC Thunder vs. Miami Heat free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Thunder taking on the Heat on Friday, March 18th, 2021 at FTX Arena. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Thunder Heat matchup.
2022 NBA Handicapping
(20-49) OKC Thunder vs. Miami Heat (46-24)
Date: Friday, March 18th
Time: 8:00 PM EST
Venue: FTX Arena, Miami, Florida
NBA Moneyline Odds: Thunder +1000 | Heat -962 (Bet Now!)
NBA Betting Odds: Heat -15
NBA Betting Total: 220
Friday, March 18th, finds the OKC Thunder facing the Miami Heat for the second and final time this season. The Heat won the initial meeting 103-90 on November 15th.
The Thunder last played on Wednesday losing a 120-122 battle decided by the final shot versus the Spurs while the Heat played Tuesday defeating the Pistons 105-98.
Last season the clubs played twice with the Heat winning both contests. The Thunder holds the all-time record with 40 wins in 67 matches versus the Heat.
OKC Thunder
The tank continues with the Thunder playing with a shorthanded roster for most of the second half of this season. Despite their mission and the numerous players out injured this young squad never concedes the easy victory.
More than one team has discovered if they underestimate OKC the youngsters are more than happy to make them pay. Case in point, San Antonio who are also rebuilding had to battle all the way to the final buzzer to ensure victory versus these scrappy Thunder.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 34 points, six rebounds, eight assists, and three steals. Darius Bazley (25), Aleksej Pokusevski (16), and Isaiah Roby (10) were the other double-figure scorers.
Gilgeous-Alexander (ankle) is questionable while Derrick Favors (back) and Kenrich Williams (knee) were downgraded to out for Friday in Miami. Josh Giddey (hip) and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (foot) are out indefinitely. Luguentz Dort (shoulder), Muscala (ankle), and Jerome (hernia) are done for the season.
Miami Heat
Each time it looks like the Heat is finally going to be fully healthy someone else gets injured. It’s likely the trio listed on the injury report will miss this match, especially against a lower-tier seed with numerous injuries of their own.
However, if this was a playoff game all three would be playing. Holding the top seed is sort of a catch-22 for the Heat who could end up having to play the Nets in the first round.
It’s why pundits believe the Bucks and more specifically 76ers are purposely looking at the scoreboard prior to games to somewhat control their fate of who they’ll play in round one.
Jimmy Butler suffered his third ankle sprain of the season and is questionable for Friday as are PJ Tucker (knee and Caleb Martin (knee).
NBA Betting Trends:
- Oklahoma City is 0-7 SU in their last 7 games.
- Miami is 6-3 ATS in their last 9 games.
- The total has gone OVER in 11 of Oklahoma City’s last 13 games.
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Miami’s last 7 games.
- Thunder are 23-8 ATS in their last 31 games as a road underdog.
- Under is 5-2 in Miami’s last 7 games as a favorite.
Free OKC Thunder vs. Miami Heat NBA Prediction:
What looked like a battle for the top seed in the East between four or five teams at one point has suddenly narrowed to two maybe three teams. Since getting blown out by the Nets the 76ers don’t look the same. The Bulls and Cavs are spiraling so badly there is concern they could drop into the play-in tournament.
That leaves the Bucks and Celtics as the only real threats to challenge the Heat for the top spot with Milwaukee trailing by two games and Boston by four. If there were more games the latter would be more concerning given how well they’re playing.
Adding fodder to this race is the fact none of these top teams want to play the Nets in the first round which also seems inevitable probably for the second seed. Fortunately for the Heat even if Butler needs to be out for a while they’ve proven all season they can win regardless of which members of their core are missing.
Moreover, the character of this team is ‘bring it’ so they are the least likely of the top teams to care whether they play Brooklyn first or later.
If SGA is out the Heat covering the spread is more likely than not but OKC has been in far too many games for me to have the Heat win by 15.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Thunder +15
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