The Miami Heat (7-3, 3-2 away) continue their West Coast swing with a midweek battle against the Los Angeles Lakers (6-5, 5-3 home). Both teams played on Monday, with the Heat falling to Denver, 113-96, and the Lakers knocking off Charlotte in overtime, 126-123.
Wednesday night’s tipoff is at 10 p.m. EST inside the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. Miami is a 4.5-point road favorite, and the over-under total is at 215 points.
What to Know – Miami Heat
Miami aims to rebound Wednesday night after suffering a blowout loss to Denver to begin the week. The matchup against the Lakers is the second in five consecutive road contests for the Heat. Miami is tied with the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Forward Jimmy Butler leads the Heat offense that scores 110.1 points per game. Butler is averaging 25.3 ppg on 53% shooting from the floor. Guard Tyler Herro is second in scoring, coming off the bench to pour in 20.3 ppg whole shooting 40% from the 3-point line.
Big man Bam Adebayo is a walking double-double, scoring 18.3 points and grabbing 11.8 rebounds per game. Guards Duncan Robinson (10.1 ppg) and Kyle Lowery (10.0 ppg) round out the top five scorers for the Heat.
Miami is 7-3 against the spread this season and 3-2 ATS on the road. The Heat are 5-2 ATS in their last seven matchups against the Lakers.
What to Know – Los Angeles
The veteran Lakers are banged up heading into Wednesday’s matchup; most notably, LeBron James is expected to miss his fourth game in a row. Los Angeles has dropped two of their last three and sits in eighth place in the Western Conference.
Trevor Ariza, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Kendrick Nunn are all out due to injuries. Reserves Austin Reaves and Rajon Rondo are both listed as questionable, and star Anthony Davis is listed as day-to-day with a thumb injury.
If Davis can go, he will have to be the focal point of a Lakers offense that averages 111.5 ppg. Davis is second in scoring behind LeBron, netting 23.9 ppg and shooting 50.2% from the floor. Davis led the Lakers Monday night with 32 points and 12 rebounds.
If Davis can’t suit up, Russell Westbrook (18.8 ppg), veteran Carmelo Anthony (17.6 ppg), and Sekou Doumbouya (10.0 ppg) will have to step up offensively for LA.
This year, Los Angeles is 3-8 ATS and just 2-6 ATS on their home floor. The Lakers are 3-7 ATS in their last ten games played in November.
The Pick is In
Both teams are banged up, but the loss of LeBron is a significant both on both sides of the ball for the Lakers. The Lakers don’t look like a championship contender or even a playoff team without him in the lineup.
The Heat are going to come out firing after suffering a blowout loss to the Nuggets. Miami took both head-to-head matches against the Lakers last season, and the Heat start this year on the same trajectory.
Betting Pick: Miami Heat -4.5
