NBA Spreads: Detroit Pistons at Miami Heat
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Miami Heat will look to snap out of their recent funk when they host the Detroit Pistons Friday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. This is the second meeting between these two teams. The Heat took the first game 97-72 at Miami back on Dec. 1.
The Pistons struggled defensively in their latest loss at home to the Denver Nuggets. Detroit fell 109-100, allowing an opposing team to reach the 100 point mark for the first time in six games. Detroit did win at Orlando on Monday 103-96.
The Heat fell 93-88 at New York last night, and are just 1-5 in their last six games, but have had their dynamic three for just one of those games.
Taking a look at the NBA spreads for tonight’s game, oddsmakers have the Heat favored by 10.5-points over the Pistons with the total set at 189.5.
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The Heat had a nine-point lead going into the final quarter against the Knicks, but were held to just 15 points in the fourth quarter. Dwayne Wade had 34 points and 16 rebounds, but after going 14-15 from the field in the first three quarters, he went 0-7 in the fourth.
LeBron James had 24 points and 11 rebounds, while James Jones added 15. Joel Anthony came off the bench to score eight points, but was the only reserve to score a point in the loss.
If the Heat are going to take care of business against the Pistons, they are going to have to get more production of out guys like Mike Miller and Carlos Arroyo off the bench.
Miami figures to once again be without Chris Bosh, but the Pistons could also be missing a key player as well. In Detroit’s last game against Denver, Rodney Stuckey injured his shoulder, and its unclear whether or not he will be able to play tonight.
Greg Monroe and Tracy McGrady each had 14 points to lead the starters, but the Pistons got plenty of help from their bench, as Will Bynum added 19 points in 21 minutes, Ben Gordon chipped in 15, and Charlie Villanueva had 11 in just 15 minutes of work.
No question the Pistons have more scoring options than the Heat, but can they keep Wade and James in check enough to give them a shot to win this game. While Miami lost the game against the Knicks, they held New York to just 36.1% shooting.
With the way Miami has struggled lately I was surprised that they were double-digit favorites in this game, and I think this game could go either way. The Pistons don’t really have an inside presence that can take advantage of Bosh being out of the lineup, so I think you have to roll with Miami at -10.5.
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