Posted on
4/2/2008 5:13:47 PM
NBA Basketball Betting - New Orleans Hornets at Miami Heat
By Charles Jay
WHO: New Orleans Hornets (51-22 SU, 45-27-1 ATS) at Miami Heat (13-61 SU, 28-44-1 ATS)
WHERE: American Airlines Arena in Miami
WHEN: Wednesday, April 2 at 7:30 PM ET
BetUS NBA basketball betting odds: New Orleans -15.5, Total 185
In the HEAD-to-HEAD NBA betting trends:
* NO has won three of the last four meetings
* NO has covered the last five meetings
* The last six meetings have gone OVER the total
* MIA has won the last five meetings SU as the home team
* Ten of the last 12 meetings in Miami have gone UNDER the total
* NO has had the shooting edge in each of the last five meetings
* MIA has had the rebounding edge in seven of the last nine meetings
* MIA has made more three-pointers in five of the last seven meetings
New Orleans has averaged 7.8 three-pointers per game. The Hornets have managed to take very good care of the basketball, turning it over an average of 11.4 times per outing. Also:
* NO has won seven of its last eight games SU
* NO has covered eight of its last 11 games
* NO has won four of its last five road games SU
* NO has played five of its last six games OVER the total
Miami has averaged 20 assists per ballgame. The Heat has scored 91.8 points per contest, which is last in the NBA. And they are dead last in rebounding (37.8 per game). Also:
* MIA has lost 15 of its last 17 games SU
* MIA has covered seven of its last 23 home games
* MIA has lost seven of its last eight home games SU
* MIA has played four of its last five home games UNDER the total
To sum things up for the Miami Heat, everybody is out with an injury. And it is at the moment a minor-league team and a minor-league operation. The latest awful episode was a 20-point blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers. That followed shooting performances of 38%, 37%, 36% and 29%, the latter of which happened in Boston, where Miami scored 62 points and made 17 field goals, the lowest in the era of the shot clock.
To be fair, I guess, when you have people like Marcus Banks, Shawn Marion, Udonis Haslem, Jason Williams, Dwyane Wade, Alonzo Mourning and Dorrell Wright out, and you have already traded Shaquille O'Neal, and the poisonous Ricky Davis is your team leader, you are going to be in sorry shape. And when your coach and president (Pat Riley) has to make excuses to get away from it all, like "scouting" players in the NCAA tournament, you are existing with no leadership.
And literally, when we say this team is playing with a minor-league roster, we mean it. the Heat has had to dip into the NBA Developmental League ranks for numerous players, including the likes of Blake Ahearn, Stephane Lasme, Joel Anthony, Alexander Johnson and Kasib Powell, as it resembles the Florida Marlins when Wayne Huizenga scorched the earth following the team's first World Series victory.
The horrible shooting simply won't do against a New Orleans team that possesses one of the league's best rebounding tandems in David West and Tyson Chandler, and has won two-thirds of its road games, covering 13 of 19 times laying points away from home. No cheap edges for the Heat either, as the Hornets turn it over only 11.4 times a game and are a solid 77% from the free throw line.
But this is a prohibitive pointspread, so let's rely on the heat's inability to make baskets and the Hornets preevnting second-shots from happening, and move with the UNDER in this one. That's under 185 points as it is posted in the BetUS NBA basketball betting odds.
JAY'S PLAY: UNDER 185
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(Charles Jay of http://www.eBookies.com is a freelance writer and handicapper who not only can make his shots from the top of the key, but also contributes with gusto to the BetUS Locker Room)