The Miami Heat head to the Barclays Center this Wednesday night to square off against the Brooklyn Nets in the second game of their current four-game road trip. This Eastern Conference showdown is slated to tip off at 8 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

The next three games will all be crucial tests for the Heat considering that they are 28-13 straight up overall but just 10-10 SU on the road this season. Even worse, the defending champs are 20-21 against the spread this season with an 8-12 road record ATS. The total has gone “over” in five of their last seven games.

Brooklyn continued its climb to the top of the standings with a 97-77 rout of Orlando on Monday night as a 9.5-point home favorite. A win on Wednesday night would leave the Nets just two games back of Miami for the No.1 seed in the East. Overall, they are 27-18 SU (21-21-3 ATS) and 17-7 SU (11-10-3 ATS) at home this year. The total has stayed “under” in four of its last six games.

Heat at Nets Betting Storylines

There is little doubt that Miami has been a completely different team away from South Beach this season and added to its road misery with a tough 100-98 double-overtime loss to Boston this past Sunday as a 3.5-point road favorite. The Heat are still the fifth-highest scoring team in the league with an average of 102.7 points a game, but it has scored less than 100 points in six of its last seven games on the road.

Against the Celtics, Miami shot just 40.6 percent from the field as compared to its season average of 48.9 percent. Even worse was the team’s woeful 21.7 shooting percentage from three-point range. The overall statistics for all the stars on this team remain impressive, but you have to wonder if LeBron James and Co. have forgotten how to win on the road, especially against the better teams they have faced?

Wednesday presents a golden opportunity for a Nets team that appears poised to become a serious threat to Miami’s hopes of winning another NBA title. They are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games and riding an eight-game winning streak at home with the victory over the Magic. The team is ranked 17th in the NBA in scoring with 96.1 points a game, but its playing lock-down defense that is holding its opponents to just 94.4 points a game. The Nets have given up more than 100 points just twice in their last 11 home games.

Brooklyn will still need a huge offensive effort from players such as Brook Lopez, Deron Williams and Joe Johnson to pull off the win. Lopez leads the team in scoring (18.6 points) and is pulling down 7.3 rebounds a game while both Williams and Johnson are averaging over 17 points a game. The team is shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and just 34.9 percent from three-point range, so it will need its top shooters to be on Wednesday night to keep pace with the Heat.

Heat at Nets Betting Odds and Trends

The opening line on BetOnline has Miami as a two-point road favorite with the over/under line set at 190.

The Heat are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 road games and 2-7 ATS in their last nine games against the Eastern Conference. The total has stayed under in five of their last seven games following a SU loss.

The Nets are 6-2-1 ATS in their last nine games following a SU win and 4-1-1 ATS in their last six home games. The total has stayed under in seven of their last 10 games against the Southeast Division.

Head-to-head in this matchup, the favorite is 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings and the total has stayed under in three of the last four games. Miami won the first two meetings at home this season by a combined 43 points.

Heat at Nets Picks and Betting Predictions

The first two games this season between these two were not even close, but the tables are turned this time around with the Nets playing on their home court. Look for them to take full advantage of the situation as they add to Miami’s troubles on the road while further closing the gap in the East with the SU win.

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Read more articles by Dave Schwab