New Orleans Pelicans vs Miami Heat NBA Picks, Odds, Predictions 3/4/21
2021-03-04 20:30:00 EDT
The Miami Heat and the New Orleans Pelicans duke it out at the Smoothie King Center on Thursday night.
The Miami Heat have been in fine form as they’ve won 10 of their past 14 games, but they will be hoping to bounce back here after having their six-game win streak halted by the Hawks in a 94-80 home loss on Tuesday. Goran Dragic and Duncan Robinson each scored 14 points while Bam Adebayo chipped in with 11 points, but no other player finished in double figures in scoring. As a team, the Heat shot just 37 percent from the field and nine of 33 from the 3-point line as they held the Hawks to just 19 points in the third quarter to overcome a nine-point deficit, only to get blown out in the fourth quarter where the Hawks outscored them by 31-14 to win easily in the end.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans have been in a bit of a rut lately as they’ve lost three of their last four games and they will be hoping to bounce back after last night’s 128-124 loss to the Bulls. Zion Williamson led the team with 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists, JJ Redick added 22 points off the bench, Brandon Ingram added 21 points while Josh Hart chipped in with 13 points. As a team, the Pelicans shot a healthy 55 percent from the field, but just six of 22 from the 3-point line as they got off to a slow start and just left themselves too much work to do after falling behind by 19 points at halftime.
Looking at the betting trends, the Heat are 8-17-1 ATS in their last 26 games against a team with a losing record and 6-1 ATS in their last seven games overall. The Pelicans are 2-5 ATS in their last seven Thursday games and 1-4 ATS in their last five games against a team with a losing record.
Head to head, the under is 5-0 in the last five meetings overall, the Heat are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings in New Orleans and the Heat are 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings overall.
The Heat come into this one with plenty of momentum as they were riding a season-high six-game win streak before laying an egg against the Hawks on Tuesday, but they will likely be shorthanded once again as both Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are listed as questionable for Thursday. The Pelicans have cooled off lately with three losses in their last four games and they are playing this one on zero days’ rest. This should be a close one, but with if the Heat are without their two best players once again, I’m going with the Pelicans to get the much-needed win at home.
