Portland Trail Blazers vs Miami Heat Predictions and Picks Jan 19

Portland Trail Blazers vs Miami Heat Betting Preview

WagerTalk NBA handicapper Tony Finn his Portland Trail Blazers vs Miami Heat betting preview for Wednesday, January 19. At the time of posting, the Heat have opened as a 10-point home favorite over the visiting Blazers, with the total sitting at 212.5 points.

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Wednesday, January 19	NBA Betting Notes
Point Spread:	Portland Trailblazers +10 vs Miami Heat
Total:	212.5 Points
Game Time:	7:40pm ET / 4:40pm PT
Arena:	FTX Arena in Miami, FL
TV:	Bally Sports Indiana

Portland Trail Blazers vs Miami Heat Analysis

The Western Conference Portland Trail Blazers (18-25, 4th in Northwest) play the role of visitor tonight in a matchup versus the Miami Heat (28-16, 1st in Southeast) at FTX Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 pm ET. As an underdog, the Blazers are 6-15 against the spread in their last 21 games, while the Heat are 6-1 against in their last seven games overall. The Over is 10-4 in Portland’s last 14 games as a road underdog, and the Over is 7-3 in Heat’s last ten games.

The first non-conference event between these two franchises was played on January 6 and resulted in a 115-109 victory by the Heat. Both squads have recently or are slated to return tonight, key starters. The Blazers received 16 points in 28 minutes in the team’s 98-88 win over Orlando from guard CJ McCollum on Monday night. McCollum missed 18 games due to a collapsed lung.

Monday featured the return of All-Star center Bam Adebayo after a 22-game absence due to a right thumb injury. The Miami center scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 32 minutes. Bam was rusty after missing nearly two months. Adebayo made just 4-of-12 shots.

Portland Aims for Third Straight “Dub”

On Saturday night, Portland defeated Washington by a 115-110 final, and Monday earned a second straight win over the Magic. Monday’s 98-88 win over Orlando was a 10th consecutive time dating to January 13, 2017. The Blazers enter tonight’s matchup with Miami winning four of five games overall.

“I felt good,” McCollum told the national media in Monday’s post-game presser. The Portland guard made 7-of-13 shots that included 2-of-4 from 3-point range. “I worked extremely hard over the past two weeks to recondition and build my body back. I think you can tell,” added McCollum.

Portland expects active starting wing Norman Powell for tonight’s South Beach contest. He has cleared the league’s COVID-19 protocol after missing five straight games. Added coach Chauncey Billups: “I thought we played well, and a few of the things that we focused on trying to take away, we did a good job. It was good to have CJ back. He didn’t force anything. He was right back like he never left.”

The Trail Blazers are hanging on tight to the 10th spot in the West standings and hunted by the Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, and New Orleans Pelicans. The Blazers are on a three-game win streak against Eastern Conference clubs. The run includes victories over the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards.

Dame Lillard leads Portland in scoring (24.0) and assists (7.3). However, Lillard is unavailable for tonight’s event after recent surgery. Ben McLemore added 14 points and four 3-pointers for the Blazers. At the same time, frontcourt big Jusuf Nurkic recorded his 18th double-double and finished one rebound shy of tying a career-high in the Blazers’ victory over Orlando.

In combination with Lilliard being ruled out for tonight’s gig in South Beach, Larry Nance Jr (Ab) and Cody Zeller (knee) have also been ruled out.

To Be or Not to Be defensive, This is the Miami Question

Heat backup point guard Tyler Herro scored 23 points; the return of Adebayo saw the talented frontcourt stalwart collect 14 points in his first game, coming off a six-week absence following thumb surgery in Miami’s 104-99 win on Monday night.

“We’re just blessed to have a team like this,” Adebayo told the Miami media following the team’s victory over Toronto on Monday. “Everybody buys in. Everybody wants to compete. And everybody wants to get the job done,” added Adebayo.

Adebayo played 32 minutes in his first game back from his long layoff. In Bam’s 32 minutes of action, he shot 4-for-12 while grabbing nine rebounds. “You can see his energy out there,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after his team pulled into a virtual tie with Chicago for first in the Eastern Conference. “He makes us different.”

Veteran and team captain Jimmy Butler finished with 19 points, ten assists, and ten rebounds. Butler’s ninth triple-double with the Heat, tying LeBron James for the most in team regular-season history. The Heat will be without point guard Kyle Lowry (personal), Markieff Morris (health and safety protocol), KZ Okpala (wrist), and Victor Oladipo.

With Adebayo carrying active status in Monday’s contest, it meant rookie center Omer Yurtseven was the odd man out in the Heat rotation. Yurtseven had been a huge addition to the Heat’s second rotation during Bam’s AWOL period. Yurtseven averaged 11.6 points and 13.4 rebounds in his last 14 appearances. The Heat improved to 14-5 at home this season, and the victory stretched Miami’s record against the Eastern Conference to 19-8.

Portland Trail Blazers vs Miami Heat Prediction

The Saturday win versus the Wizards in D.C improved the team to 3-1 SU and ATS in its last four games. That straight up and against the spread mark was stretched to 4-1 SU/ATS in Monday’s victory over the Magic.

A victory tonight against Miami would mark the first time that Portland would have won more than two consecutive contests since the end of November. The Blazers were a +7.0 net rating against Washington and +6.3 in the victory over Orlando.

On Monday, the third-worst cover team in the NBA was a short road favorite in Orlando, which made the Blazers difficult to back. This season, Portland has a -3.1 net rating due to its offense managing a mere 111.7 points per 100 possessions.

The return and the energy that Adebayo and Powell bring to the hardwood is impossible for the rest of the Miami players to get involved with. Without Kyle Lowry active and Herro running the point, the Heat will not play at tempo, nor will they be a large threat in transition.

The WagerTalk pick to click backs the versatile Miami Heat minus the points.

Wednesday’s #NBA Notes:
🏀Orlando has covered the spread in four of its last five as a double-digit road ‘dog.
🏀Charlotte is 12-5 against the spread as a ‘dog.
🏀The under is 19-5 in Dallas’ last 24 games.
🏀The over is 26-13 in Houston’s last 39 games.
➡️https://t.co/RHOuvHZvdC pic.twitter.com/g94ryCDsIL

— GoldSheet (@thegoldsheet) January 19, 2022

Portland Trail Blazers vs Miami Heat Preview from GoldSheet

Some signs of life in Portland from something other than the local chapter of Antifa, as the long-somnambulant Blazers have now won four of five (their best stretch since before Thanksgiving!). Big bonus in the most-recent win on Monday at Orlando when C.J. McColllum returned to active duty for the first time in over a month (Dec. 4) after a collapsed lung and looked no worse for wear, scoring 16 points in the 98-88 success vs the Magic.

Damian Lillard (abdominal core) not walking into the arena anytime soon, but at least Portland has a bit of its former look with McCollum available and giving hope that the Blazers can at least hang in the race for a West play-in spot (remember, conference teams 9 & 10 now have a shot in the postseason, too, one of the byproducts of the 2021 Covid season).

A McCollum-Anfernee Simons backcourt has had positive results earlier in the season, and minus Lillard and McCollum the Blazers still ranked sixth in offensive efficiency for January into this week. It won’t be easy in Miami, as the Heat are on a bit of a “heater” (pun intended) with wins in five of six and covers in six of seven, including a 115-109 win at Moda Center on January 5 (no Lillard or McCollum that night).

The Heat just got healthier on Monday, too, when F Bam Adebayo returned to active duty for the first time in six weeks after a thumb injury, scoring 14 in a win vs the Raptors, and Erik Spoelstra is hoping that Bam and Duncan Robinson can rekindle their special telepathy (Adabyo has 185 assists on Robinson triples the past three seasons), though Robinson is just 5 for 25 from deep thee past four games. But as the Heat has covered just 2 of its last 9 as AA Arena chalk, we are hardly anxious to lay this sort of price vs the recently-revived Blazers.

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. Check out Wednesday’s sheet, with notes on tonight’s Portland Trail Blazers vs Miami Heat contest.

NBA Tip-Off Show

Join Joe Raineri and a rotating panel of guests 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 Portland Trail Blazers vs Miami Heat clash, from a betting perspective.

NBA Odds Screen

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