Miami at Portland
Time: 9:30 PM CT (TNT)
Spread: POR -7.5
Total: 211.5

Odds c/o 5dimes

POR

Portland has been rolling this season, and it has won seven of its last 10 overall. It currently sits at No. 4 seed in the Western Conference with its 27-19 mark on the year.

?Damian Lillard, for his part, has been sensational this season. The All-Star is averaging 26 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game.

His backcourt sidekick CJ McCollum is rounding into form too, averaging 21.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.?The Blazers use its starting center Josuf Nurkic just 27 minutes a game, but he averages 15.2 points and 10.4 rebounds in that time, making the most of it with his high energy play.
The reduction in his time means more for Zach Collins, and the second-year big man has also looked good. Portland has gone more heavily towards its starters as the season has worn on, but it has some good talent waiting in the wings.

Collins is averaging 7.3 points and 0.86 blocks per game in 19 minutes a night. The Blazers have good depth, and its bench is greatly improved with the better play of Evan Turner and Nik Stauskas, who has revived his career in Portland. Stauskas is averaging 6.4 points per game in his 16 minutes a night. The Blazers now seem to have the depth it has lacked in previous seasons, and it is making a great difference evidenced by its No. 2 position in the Western Conference thus far.

MIA

The Miami Heat are three games below .500, but it still is situated No. 8 in the Eastern Conference with a 1.5 game lead over No. 9 Detroit. The Heat have lost seven of its last 10 though, including its last three overall.

Its most three recent losses came to the Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Chicago Bulls— two of which are non-playoff teams. The Heat trail Charlotte by just 1.5 games for the lead in the lowly Southwest Division, even so.

Miami has six players averaging double-figure scoring but it still musters just 104.9 points per game. Leading scorer Josh Richardson averages 17.3 points but he is inefficient at a PER of just 14.15. Goran Dragic has seen a similar theme for his season with a 15.3 point scoring average but a PER under the league average at just 13.40. Dwyane Wade is making his final tour through the NBA and providing perhaps more than most thought he would with his 13.8 points per game in just 25 minutes a night. The Heat are still trying to figure out how to get out from under the contract of center Hassan Whiteside, who at this point appears mostly to be an impediment to the development of second-year center Bam Adebayo.

Adebayo has displayed some “point-center” skills and is averaging eight points per game, but he is seeing just 22 minutes per game as Whiteside commands 25.5 per night as the starting center. Miami has some talent and moveable parts, but it is unclear whether the Heat can improve much with its current roster. The Offense has been weak, and the defensive efforts of Erik Spoelstra’s club are futile without a much better offensive attack.

ATS TRENDS