NBA 2019 Preview, Odds, And Prediction: Los Angeles Lakers vs Miami Heat

The Los Angeles Lakers will fly over to South Beach with intentions of staining the Miami Heat’s unblemished home record when they face each other on Friday at the American Airlines Arena. One salvo must sacrifice, and for Erik Spoelstra and his wards, their flawless log book in the Triple A is not one to give in to Lebron James and the NBA’s best Lakers. Alternately, the current second-best East team will shoot to put an end to the Lakeshow’s scorching 12 straight wins on the road.

The Lakers will be at the second stop of their five-game trip away from LA after they dismantled the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, 96-87. James fooled around and mustered yet another triple double of 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. The Heat, meanwhile, will be coming off an impressive come from behind 135-121 OT victory against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday in a game that saw Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo notching their separate triple doubles, Duncan Robinson hitting 10 triples and rookie Kendrick Nunn hitting a career-best 36 points.

Dion Waiters will continue to spend time on the sidelines after he got slapped with another six-game suspension by the Heat due to “his failure to adhere to team policies, violation of team rules, and continued insubordination,” Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press said.

Kyle Kuzma (ankle) and Rajon Rondo (hamstring) are both listed as questionable for the Lakers in this game. Avery Bradley, who just returned from a 13-game injury absence on Wednesday and played 17 minutes is tagged as probable.

Odds:

The Los Angeles Lakers’ league-wide dominance and stellar play on the road forced the oddsmakers to tag them as 5.5-point favorites against the Miami Heat. The Total line is pegged at O/U 212.

ATS trend shows the Lakers winning in their last five games overall, as well as in their last four road games. The Heat are likewise beating the spread, having a 10-2 ATS tally in their last 12 home games and 8-2 in the last 10 times they were flagged as underdogs in their home floor.

O/U historical trend revealed that the total points went UNDER in the last four times these teams faced each other. LA’s own trend goes UNDER as well, logging in a 4-1 tally for the selection in the last five times they were handicapped on the road. The Heat, on the other hand, has gotten the OVER selection winning 5-1 in their last six home games.

Prediction:

The Heat will beat the +5.5 spread but expect the Lakers to give them their first defeat in Miami.

Back the OVER selection of the total market line. These teams are coming off huge wins so their confidence offensively must be off the charts.