NBA Betting Trends: Lakers at Heat

The Lakers found their mo-jo again after the loss against Dallas a week ago and now are listed as 5 points favorites as they visit the Miami Heat tonight at 8 PM ET at the American Airlines Arena.

Los Angeles Lakers -5
Miami Heat +5
O/U 189

Lon Angeles have won 8 of the last 10 with a 3 game winning streak but they are 9-13 ATS after 3 or more consecutive wins.The Lakers are 3-5 ATS as a road favorite of 3.5 to 6 points just like the game tonight. Also consider in the second half of the season they are 4-9 against the spread.

The Heat have been a solid team whenever they are not favored to win. They seem to relish the role of the underdog. I think it just pisses Dwyane Wade off. So far this season they are 17-15 against the spread as an underdog. That is a HUGE when thinking of betting against Miami.

Wade who is day by day with a calf injury and the rest of the Miami squad are 5-3 both straight up and against the spread against Pacific division opponents.Meanwhile the Lakers are 1-3 ATS against Southeast division opponents.

The Lakers are not a great team on the road ATS, they are 11-15 whenever they play outside the Staples Center. In order to get this win Miami will likely need Michael Beasley to neutralize Lamar Odom, who's averaged 13.5 points and 10.8 rebounds in his last 10 games and has been the X factor in plenty games.

This game fits perfectly to bet on the Heat as they are 21-16 against the spread versus good offensive teams that score 99+ points per game, the Lakers averages 102.9 points each night.

Also consider MIAMI is 3-2 against the spread versus LA LAKERS over the last 3 seasons.

If you are thinking of betting the game total keep in mind 7 of 12 games in this series have gone UNDER since 1996, including the last two meetings.