Warriors vs Heat NBA Handicapping
The Warriors come in to this one with four straight road victories and seven wins in their last eight games, but – and it’s a but that would make Sir Mix-a-Lot smile – just about all of it has been accomplished by grabbing low-hanging fruit.
Golden State Warriors (14-7) at Miami Heat (14-5)
Wednesday, Dec. 12
American Airlines Arena, Miami
7:30 p.m. EST
Spread: Heat -8.5
O/U: 205
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Save a nice win at Brooklyn, the streak has been built with wins over the Indianas, Detroits and Orlandos of the Association.
Golden State opened its seven-game trip with a win at Detroit, followed it up with victories on back-to-back nights in Washington and Brooklyn, then took care of Charlotte two nights ago.
The Warriors were a bit gassed in the final period against thre Bobcats, but had taken a huge lead into the final 12 minutes and coasted. GS has gone over 100 points in every game on the trip.
That free ride ends tonight, though, when the Warriors make their only appearance of the season in Miami. [ad-6571516]
The Heat don’t do a lot of game-planning, preferring to let their athleticism do their talking, but any they do for this one no doubt will center on paying attention to Stephen Curry (20 ppg) and David Lee (18.8 points, 11.2 rebounds). Curry and Lee combined for 52 points in the win at Charlotte.
The Warriors are 11th in the league in offense and 18th in defense, but that gap is much narrower than in years past when they treated defense as just something to do when while they waited for the ball. The deal of Monta Ellis to the Bucks for Andrew Bogut helped solve that problem, although Bogut has been limited by injury and won’t play tonight.
The Heat, meanwhile, are dealing with two issues:
1. Boredom. They are finding it near impossible to play with the same energy every night that their opponent usually brings.
2. Concern about Dwyane Wade, who has spent the last two seasons battling injuries. The Heat’s business model is based on having two of the best five players in the league on the court for 35 minutes a game, and without Wade things get dicey.
(Positive note for the Heat: Wade had 26 in his last game, against Atlanta.)
THE PICK: It’s been nearly four decades since the Warriors started a road trip with four straight victories, but the streak ends here. Miami is 10-1 at home, and have been paying attention since that bad loss to the Knicks last week. The Heat will look to stretch the floor after Ray Allen got only three points in a convincing win over the Hawks on Monday night.
Heat win and cover in this one, with a good long look at the over as Miami operates against the Warriors’ fatigued legs.
