NBA Picks: Milwaukee Bucks at Miami Heat
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Miami Heat will look to extend their current winning streak to seven games when they host the Milwaukee Bucks tonight. Miami won its 11th consecutive road game last night, beating the Charlotte Bobcats 96-82. The Heat have now won 18 of their last 19 games. The Bucks come in of a 99-87 win against the Dallas Mavericks, snapping a two game losing streak. Miami went to Milwaukee and beat the Bucks 88-78 back on Dec. 6. Taking a look at the NBA spreads for tonight’s games, the oddsmakers have the Heat favored by 9.5-points over the Bucks at home.
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It just seems like the Heat are on a whole different level right now, and when they decide to play against these teams who are struggling on the season, the opposing team has no chance. LeBron James finished with 38 points, nine rebounds, and five assists last night against the Bobcats, while Dwyane Wade added 31 points and 11 rebounds. If you throw in Chris Bosh’s 11 points, the dynamic trio scored 80 of the Heats 96 points.
The way James is playing right now, it is going to be hard for anyone to beat the Heat. Almost every night James flirts with a triple-double, and before long he could be getting them on a consistent basis. Over the last five games James is averaging 25.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 8.4 assists.
All Wade has done over the last five games, is average 31.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. Last night was the first time this season that both Wade and James scored at least 30 points.
With all the offensive statistics, many times you forget just how good this team is playing defensively. Miami is holding its opponents to just 92 points on the season, and last time they faced the Bucks they held Milwaukee to just 34.6% shooting.
The Bucks continue to play without their leading scorer Brandon Jennings, but have been getting some nice production out of Earl Boykins off the bench. Boykins scored a team-high 26 points and dished out six assists against the Mavericks, an is averaging 20 points over his last five games.
John Salmons had 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while Ersan Ilyasova came away with 16 points and 17 rebounds. Milwaukee is going to need all the scoring they can get to keep up with the Heat.
In the first meeting with Miami Corey Maggettte had 20 points off the bench, but is averaging just 10 points over his last three games after missing some time with a concussion.
With the way Miami has been playing, there is no question they could win this game by 20 points, but they are playing the second game of a back-to-back and likely won’t take the Bucks all that seriously. I think there is some value in betting the Bucks +9.5.
For more help with who to take in the NBA this season, check out what our expert NBA handicappers have to offer in their daily NBA picks.
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