Miami Heat (24-15) vs. Phoenix Suns (30-8)
January 8, 2022 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Phoenix Suns -8.5; Over/Under: -216.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Miami Heat invade the Footprint Center to do battle with the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.
The Miami Heat have been in great form as they’ve won 10 of their past 14 games overall and they will be looking to stay hot after sneaking past the Trail Blazers in a 115-109 road win on Wednesday. Max Struss led the team with 25 points and five assists, Tyler Herro added 16 points off the bench while PJ Tucker and Omer Yurtseven each scored 14 points. As a team, the Heat shot 45 percent from the field and 19 of 41 from the 3-point line as they got off to a quick start and led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing as they had to fight till the end in this scrappy game. Kyle Lowry scored seven points on one of four shooting before getting ejected after just 16 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns have been in pretty good shape as they’ve won four of their past five games overall and they will be aiming for a fourth straight victory after beating the Clippers in a 106-89 home win on Thursday. Cameron Johnson led the team with 24 points on nine of 14 shooting, Chris Paul racked up a triple-double of 14 points with 13 rebounds and 10 assists, while Jalen Smith chipped in with 19 points and 14 rebounds. As a team, the Suns shot just 41 percent from the field and 10 of 31 from the 3-point line as they dominated the second quarter by 35-20 to take a 16-point lead into halftime, before pulling away in the fourth quarter after the game tightened up in the third quarter. Devin Booker had a night to forget as he finished with just 11 points on five of 22 shooting from the field and zero of seven from the 3-point line.
Looking at the betting trends, the Heat are 4-1 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record, 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games and 1-5 ATS in their last six games following a win. The Suns are 0-4 ATS in their last four games against a team with a winning record and 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall.
Head to head, the over is 6-2 in the last eight meetings overall, the Heat are 20-7 ATS in the last 27 meetings overall and the Heat are 11-2 ATS in the last 13 meetings in Phoenix.
The Heat will be depleted once again as Markieff Morris, KZ Okpala and Gabe Vincent are all out while Jimmy Butler is listed as questionable for this one. The Suns are also shorthanded as they are again missing Frank Kaminsky, Landry Shamet and Abdel Nader. The Heat have been one of the form teams of the league, but they’re just so banged up at the moment so it’s hard to back them in this spot, especially if Butler isn’t able to suit up here. I’m sticking with the red-hot Suns to get the job done behind a big bounce-back performance from Booker who struggled on Thursday.
