Free of Dunleavy: LA Clippers at Miami Heat

Free at last, free at last, Clippers fans you are free at last from the coaching incompetence that was Mike Dunleavy. Yesterday the LA Clippers completely cut ties with Mike Dunleavy about one month after he was relieved of his coaching duties. The Dunleavy-less Clippers will be in Miami to face the Heat Wednesday night.

It was amazing to everyone not named Donald Sterling that Mike Dunleavy had remained with the Clippers as long as he did. During his reign of iniquity, the Clippers made the playoffs just once and his record as head coach was 215-325 in 6½ seasons. It might be unfair to pin the entire Clippers problems on Dunleavy’s poor coaching. Their owner Donald Sterling is extremely cheap and continues to force his management to make trades that improve the team’s bottom line rather than its win loss record.

This year was supposed to be different for the Clippers, they had the number one draft choice and they used in on the most NBA ready player in the draft, Blake Griffin. A few games into the preseason, Blake Griffin suffered a stress fracture in his knee and was lost for the season. Since then things have gone their typical Clipper best, LAC sits 14 games under .500 and 21.5 games back of the Lakers in the Pacific. Coming into tonight’s game, the Clippers have lost six of their past seven games covering just one game against the spread during that stretch.

The Miami Heat are in a fight for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They sit in eighth, a half game ahead of Chicago and 2½ games back of fifth place. The Heat lost to Eastern Conference rivals the Charlotte Bobcats, Dwyane Wade scored 27 but the rest of the Heat could only score another 51 points in the 83-78 loss.

Tonight’s game is the second half of back to backs for both teams, the Heat are 3-8 ATS in the past 11 games on 0-days rest, the Clippers are 7-9-1 ATS on no rest. Other NBA Betting trends to consider, the Clippers are 0-4 ATS in their past four games. The Miami Heat are 5-2 ATS in their past seven games versus the Western Conference.

If you are betting NBA Totals

In the past six meetings between the Clippers and the Heat in Miami, the game has gone over the Total and seven of eight games Clippers-Heat games overall.

Head to head, the Clippers are 1-4-1 ATS in the past six games.

Neither team has been playing exceptionally well, quite the opposite but I like Heat to win the game at home.

NBA Betting Free Pick: Miami Heat