Miami Heat vs. Golden State Warriors Pick

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The road has not been kind to the Heat this season with an 8-9 straight-up record overall and a 1-3 record four games into their current six-game road trip. Monday night’s 104-97 loss to Utah as 2.5-point road favorites dropped Miami to 24-12 SU and 17-19 against the spread. The total went OVER the 198-point line in that game and it has now gone OVER in its last two games.

Monday’s loss not only pushed the Heat below .500 on the road it may have pushed a wedge between head coach Erik Spoelstra and two-thirds of the Big Three. While LeBron James pumped-in 32 points in a furious comeback attempt, both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh found themselves riding the bench in the fourth quarter with no real explanation afterwards from the coach.

This season has gotten off to an unexpected 23-13 SU start for Golden State after winning just 23 games all last year. They come into this matchup with just one win in their last four games, but the Warriors return home where they are 12-5 SU (10-7 ATS) and have won six of their last eight games at Oracle Arena. They are 20-15-1 ATS overall and the total has gone OVER in four of their last five outings.

This is a youthful squad led by Stephen Curry and David Lee. Curry leads the Warriors in scoring (20.5), assists (6.6) and steals (1.6) while Lee is chipping-in another 19.9 points and a team-high 10.9 rebounds a game. Golden State has also been able to spread the ball around with four other players averaging at least nine points a game. It is ranked ninth in the NBA in scoring with 101.1 points and fifth in rebounds with 45.2 a game. The only glaring weakness at times has been a defense that is giving-up 99.4 points a game.

Prediction
The Warriors have already beaten Miami this season with a 97-95 road victory in mid-December as 8.5-point underdogs and would love nothing better than pulling-off the season-sweep over the defending champs. While James might find himself focused on scoring more than 18 points to eclipse the 20,000 point plateau, Golden State will remain focused on adding to the Heats’ misery on the road. Golden State 103 Miami 102