Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers Picks and Predictions Dec 21
Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers Betting Preview
WagerTalk NBA handicapper Andy Lang offers his Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers betting preview for Tuesday, December 21. At the time of posting, the Pacers have climbed to a 2-point road favorite in Miami, with the total at 211 points.
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| Tues, Dec 21 | NBA Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Indiana Pacers -2 at Miami Heat |
| Total: | 211 Points |
| Game Time: | 7:35pm ET / 4:35pm PT |
| Arena: | FTX Arena |
| TV: | TNT |
Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers Analysis
Somehow the Miami Heat have moved to 18-13 and in first place in their division which is quite the feat as they’ve been playing without Butler and Adebayo. Tonight they welcome the Pacers who have slowly started to fall off the pace in the East as they have lost six out of 10, but three of those losses were to Milwaukee and Golden State, and one loss was to this Miami team two weeks ago. Will history repeat itself, or will the Pacers get their revenge? The line has the Pacers favored by 2 and the total has climbed to 211 points….so what early stocking stuffer do we have for our bankrolls in this one?
We’ll start with the lineups as this is the most important thing in wagering these days, and along with Adebayo and Butler out the Heat will be without PF Tucker, who has been so under the radar the last week or so. He’s played so well and been a nuisance for opposing teams and he’s one of the main reasons they’ve been treading water while waiting for Jimmy and Bam to return.
The Pacers should have their standard starting lineup, and they’ll need Sabonis to get back to his scoring ways as he’s been underwhelming the last two games while hinting at wanting to be traded.
Both teams are bottom-12 in pace of play, so we might expect a slower paced game tonight, and the Heat must feel like their backs are against the wall in a big way tonight. Last game out they lost by 10 to the Pistons with their skeleton lineup, and with the Pacers being at full strength it’s going to be even tougher without Tucker.
The Heat are a top 5 team against guarding point guards, but are bottom five guarding shooting guards so I’m going to expect a big game from Caris LeVery tonight along with Sabonis who should have a field day against Dedmond and Okpala inside.
The Heat have depended on three point shooting to win their recent games as they shot 54.3% against Orlando in a win, and 40.9% against Philadelphia in a win, but when they aren’t hitting those, they can lose to the Pistons by 10 (only shot 13-43 from threes).
Miami is going to be firing away from three point land for sure tonight as I would expect over 50% of their field goal attempts to be threes, and if they hit a lot of them anything can happen. I will bet that they are average tonight from three (between 34%-36%) and that won’t be enough to overcome the defensive mismatch on the other end of the court. I see Sabonis and LeVert having big games en route to a solid win by 7 or more points.
OFFICIAL PLAY: Pacers -2
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Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers Preview from GoldSheet
Miami’s Jimmy Butler has already been declared out of this game with a tailbone issue that’s kept him down for the last 6 games, while Heat HC Eric Spoelstra has been getting daily updates from C Bam Adebayo’s hand surgeon for the last 3 weeks and doesn’t expect any positive news for another 10-20 days. Conversely, Indiana’s Malcolm Brogden appears to be ready to return to action after sitting out the Detroit game and resting over the team’s rare 4 off days the Pacers enjoyed leading up to this game.
This is only Indiana’s 3rd road game in a month (10 home games) and the Pacers have lost both of those and 5 of the last 6 as a visitor SU, but Indiana won and covered both here last season, and owe the Heat for Miami’s victory in Indianapolis on Dec. 3, a 113-104 decision punctuated by the Heat starters connecting on 14 of 25 three pointers, and the Miami team outshooting the Pacers 53%-44%. Look for some regression to the mean. Play Indiana.
Tuesday’s NBA Stat Sheet
Each day, WagerTalk handicapper Ralph Michaels puts together his NBA Stat Sheet, which offers a head-to-head comparison for how teams are performing in a number of key areas heading into a game. Click here to download Tuesday’s sheet, with notes on tonight’s Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers contest.
NBA Tip-Off Show
Join Joe Raineri, Tony Finn, Skee Profit and Rob Veno for the NBA Tip-Off Show at 4:15pm ET / 1:15pm PT as we discuss tonight’s marquee games. Stay up-to-date on the latest NBA news, stats, analysis, and predictions with our panel of professional handicappers as they preview tonight’s NBA action, including this Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers clash, from a betting perspective.
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