NBA Betting Predictions – San Antonio Visits Miami
by Tim Furious
Losing Tony Parker may have debilitated the betting bandwagon behind the San Antonio Spurs, but it certainly hasn’t slowed the Spurs down all that much. If anything, it’s normalized the betting lines against them and this team is proving that it has the insane ability to adapt to such pressures. They’ll get another chance to prove just how dominant they can be when they visit the Miami Heat tonight.
San Antonio has gone 7-1 SU in their past 8 games and are also dominating the betting line recently. They’re a finely polished 5-0 ATS in their past 5 games. On the road they’re 4-1 ATS in their past 5 games, and though they’ve struggled against Miami in the past their recent surge is what should be grabbing the NBA betting public’s attention.
What the Spurs miss in Tony Parker has been more than adequately replaced by George Hill, who his averaging 15.8 points per game and 6.0 assists in the five-game winning streak against the NBA betting line for the Spurs. While Tim Duncan continues to unleash a savvy arsenal of veteran moves, he’s getting tons of help from Manu Ginobli who has been thriving in his new, starting role. Manu has averaged 20.6 points and 5.8 helpers in the past five games.
San Antonio Spurs (39-25) vs. Miami Heat (35-32)
Tuesday, March 16th --- AmericanAirlines Arena --- 7:30pm EST
NBA Betting Line: Miami -1.5 (187.5)
Yet the Spurs aren’t the only marquee team throttling the oddsmakers recently. The Miami Heat have gone 5-2 ATS and 6-1 SU in their past 7 games. During their surge, Wade has been an unstoppable force of nature averaging 30.4 points per game, including two efforts of 38-points against Atlanta and Philadelphia.
Miami will enjoy the return of Michael Beasley to a certain extent, and his added presence will hopefully secure the undefeated SU and ATS streak that the Heat carry at home. The main problem, especially with a tight line, is that Miami is just 3-13 SU overall against the Spurs and are only 2-5 SU when playing them in South Beach.
Inevitably, that’s the problem if you want to take the Heat in this one. They simply do not match up very well against the Spurs, who are hardly ever daunted by one, single player blowing up the scoreboard. With beefy size and tons of scoring talent underneath, the Spurs have a definitive edge in this one and I love the little point-cushion they’re getting tonight.
It’s always tough to bet against Miami at home, but if their 78-108 loss to San Antonio in December is any indication then they’re in for a bumpy ride tonight.
