The NBA season continues on Wednesday. The Miami Heat will hit the road and take on the Philadelphia 76ers. It's time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Heat-76ers prediction and pick.
Both of these teams have had similar starts to the season, including dealing with a ton of major health issues that are ongoing. The Miami Heat are 16-12 and are coming off a disappointing loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Philadelphia 76ers are 15-13 and just suffered a terrible defeat while playing shorthanded against the Memphis Grizzlies. This should be an interesting matchup between two teams trying to bounce back while playing with key guys injured.
Here are the odds for the Heat-76ers Wednesday night NBA matchup, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Heat-76ers Odds
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Miami Heat: +7.5 (-110)
Philadelphia 76ers: -7.5 (-110)
Over: 204 (-110)
Under: 204 (-110)
Why The Heat Could Cover The Spread
Even with all their injuries, the Heat are a well-coached team that can win games while shorthanded. They recently beat the Miami Bucks without Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo and also blew out the Chicago Bulls without them, though the Bulls barely fielded a team because of COVID-19. Miami wasn't able to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers last time out, with the streaking Cavs proving to be too much against a team missing still missing Butler and Adebayo.
A major key for the Heat without Butler and Adebayo is the 3-point shooting. They hit 22 3-pointers in the win over the Bucks and 19 against the Bulls, but that number dipped to 13 in Cleveland. If Miami's 3-point shooters get hot against Philly, that will go a long way toward deciding this game.
With Butler and Adebayo out, Kyle Lowry is the leader of this Heat squad. In their loss to Cleveland, Lowry played for 38 minutes and had 22 points and five assists. Lowry has been consistently giving his all to this team and has helped this team maintain its competitiveness, even with their injuries. Miami will once again turn to Lowry on Wednesday, and he should have no problem stepping up while playing in his hometown of Philly.
Also helping out the Heat in this game are Sixers injuries, with Joel Embiid and Seth Curry currently questionable. If they don't play, that evens out the health woes a bit, though Tyler Herro is now also out with a quad injury.
Why The 76ers Could Cover The Spread
The Sixers have had an interesting start to the season. Setting aside the Ben Simmons drama, they've also dealt with a litany of health problems, including to superstar Joel Embiid. Even so, they've managed to get off to a 15-13 start despite all these issues, and they've generally been great when Embiid plays.
Philly is coming off an embarrassing 35-point loss to Memphis. Embiid and Curry didn't play in that game, and it really showed. The Sixers were behind the Grizzlies in basically every category last game, getting destroyed from an overall statistical standpoint and on the scoreboard.
One bright spot for this Philly team has been the emergence of Tyrese Maxey as a legitimate scoring threat. In only 30 minutes of play, Maxey scored 23 points and dished out seven assists in the Grizzlies loss. On the season, he's averaging nearly 17 points a game, more than double what he was averaging last season as a rookie. Injuries often pave the way for players to step up, and Maxey has been capitalizing on the opportunity. If he can continue to play quality minutes, he should have a positive impact for this team.
With Embiid and Curry potentially back for this game, that would give them a huge opportunity to win against a banged-up Heat squad. This game happening in Philly could also be an advantage, but the Sixers are just 6-6 at home and Lowry will surely feel motivated playing in his hometown.
Final Heat-76ers Prediction & Pick
This should be an interesting matchup, and this outcome could very well depend on the status of the injured players. If Embiid doesn't play, the Sixers could be in big trouble. On the flip side, the Heat have shown that they can battle through the adversity of injuries. Miami has had injured players all season, yet have found ways to remain competitive and win games. While Miami's injuries could very well prove to be too much to win the game, expect this one to stay close and go with the road team to find a way to cover. This will be a battle.
FINAL HEAT-76ERS PICK: Miami Heat +7.5 (-110)
FINAL HEAT-76ERS SCORE PREDICTION: 76ers 105 – Heat 102
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