NBA Preview, Odds, And Prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Miami Heat

The Oklahoma City Thunder got discombobulated defensively on Wednesday as they were buried by as much as 30 points in their loss against the Toronto Raptors. The sudden annihilation came quite as a surprise given that the Thunder have been on a roll lately, winning 12 of their last 16 games prior to the shocking defeat.

OKC has not lost in back-to-back games this month and they look to continue the trend when they host the Miami Heat on Friday inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Thunder:

The flow of offense remains to be fluid for coach Billy Donovan and his players. It was their defense, however, that abandoned them on Wednesday. The team allowed the Raptors to shoot 61.2 percent from the field with seven players reaching double figures in scoring.

The home crowd will have to play a major role to help the squad avert a two-game slide. The Thunder stays in the Playoff picture with a 23-18 record which is seventh in the West. They have also won 13 of their 21 games inside Chesapeake this season.

Heat:

Undrafted rookie Kendrick Nunn continues to prove that he belongs in the NBA. Just like his team, the 24-year-old guard has become one of the biggest revelations in the season with numbers no one expected him to produce. The Heat regained the No.2 spot in the East with a win against the Spurs on Wednesday – a game where Nunn went En Fuego to score 33 points on 13-of-18 shooting while hitting five triples.

Miami has to summon its grit and hit the ground immediately running on Friday to place its road record back to .500.

Odds and Trends:

The Thunder are slight faves in the match with a -2 handicap. The total points are offered at 216.5 O/U.

The Thunder are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 Friday games and 9-2 in their last 11 games overall.

The Heat are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog and 5-2-1 in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.

Over is 4-0 in Thunder’s last 4 games as a favorite and 7-1 in Heat’s last 8 road games.

Under is 5-0 in Thunder’s last 5 vs. a team with a winning straight up record and 8-2 in Heat’s last 10 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.

Prediction:

Straight-up: Thunder

ATS: Heat

Total: Over