Miami Heat vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction, 2/22/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Miami Heat vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Date: Monday, February 22, 2021

Location: Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, OK

TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma

Odds/Point Spread: Miami (-2.5)

The Miami Heat (13-17) head to Chesapeake Energy Arena on Monday where they'll take on the Oklahoma City Thunder (11-18). The line on this matchup has Miami as 2.5-point favorites. The over/under has been set at 226.5.

The Miami Heat faced the Los Angeles Lakers and walked away with a win by a score of 96-94 in their last contest. Miami ended with a 42.4% field goal percentage (36 of 85) and made 8 out of their 28 3-point shots. When they shot from the free throw line, the Heat made 16 of 23 tries for a percentage of 69.6%. When talking about rebounding, they earned 49 with 10 of them being offensive. They also distributed 24 assists for the matchup while having 8 steals and 3 rejections. Concerning defense, Miami let their opponent shoot 39.3% from the field on 33 of 84 shooting. Los Angeles dished out 25 dimes and had 5 steals in the game. Furthurmore, the Lakers collected 43 rebounds (6 offensive, 37 defensive) and added 6 rejections. Los Angeles walked away from this one shooting 88.2% at the free throw line by burying 15 of their 17 attempts. They knocked down 13 out of their 45 shots from distance.

Kendrick Nunn is one player who came through for the matchup. He totaled 27 points on 10 of 14 shooting. He played for 39:50 mins and grabbed 5 boards. Nunn ended up going 71.4% from the floor and also recorded 3 assists. Another guy that was a major contributor in this matchup for the Heat was Jimmy Butler. He snagged 8 boards and accounted for 5 assists. He finished the contest at 40.0% from the field for the game by connecting on 8-of-20 (24 points). Overall, Butler played 34:05 minutes.

Miami will enter this contest with a record of 13-17 so far this year. They are averaging 106.8 pts per contest (27th in the NBA) while connecting on 46.3% from the field. The Heat are connecting on 35.1% on three-point attempts (384 of 1,095) and 78.5% from the free throw line. As a team, Miami is grabbing 42.6 boards per game and has 775 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 6th in the league in terms of passing. They cough up possession 16.4 times per contest and as a team they are committing 19.7 fouls every game. Defensively, the Heat are able to force 15.1 turnovers per contest and they draw 20.7 fouls. The Heat are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 44.8% (452 of 622) and they concede 44.1 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They currently rank 21st in the league in giving up assists to the opposition with 763 surrendered for the campaign. They are conceding 36.8% on shots from downtown and they are ranked 7th in the league in opponents points per game (109.9).

The last time they took the court, the Oklahoma City Thunder walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 98-85 against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Thunder were able to snag 38 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds for a total of 46 for this contest. They rejected 5 tries while earning 4 steals for this game. The Bucks committed 18 fouls for this game which took the Thunder to the free throw line for a total of 21 tries. They were able to convert 11 of those for a rate of 52.4%. Pertaining to 3-point shots, Oklahoma City knocked down 12 of 40 tries (30.0%). At the conclusion of this game, the Thunder finished 31 for 85 from the floor which gave them a rate of 36.5%. The Thunder allowed the Bucks to knock down 35 out of 86 tries from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 40.7% for this contest. They finished shooting 32.4% from downtown via 11 out of 34 and finished the contest at 17 out of 25 from the free throw line (68.0%). In reference to rebounds, Oklahoma City allowed Milwaukee to pull down 61 in total (11 offensive).

Luguentz Dort ended up being a factor for the Thunder for the game. He knocked down 6 of 16 in the game for a field goal percentage of 37.5%, which had him finishing with 17 points. Dort snagged 2 boards in his 32:31 minutes of time on the court and accumulated 2 dimes in the matchup. One more player that played a role for Oklahoma City was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He left the arena with 16 points in 36:01 mins on the hardwood via 4 of 13 from the floor in this contest. Gilgeous-Alexander ended the game having shot 30.8% from the floor in addition to collecting 5 assists and 4 boards.

Oklahoma City has a record of 11-18 so far this year. When it comes to offense, the Thunder are connecting on 44.7% from the floor, which is ranked 26th in the NBA. Oklahoma City has totaled 3,100 points so far this year (106.9 per game) and they average 44.9 boards per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 23.4 times per contest (21st in the NBA) and they cough up possession 14.5 times per contest. The Thunder commit 18.3 personal fouls per contest and they connect on 73.0% from the free throw line. The Thunder are ranked 20th in basketball in PPG given up with 113.1. They have forced 13.3 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 46.1% from the field (13th in basketball). The Oklahoma City defense allows 35.3% from downtown (382 of 1,081) and their opposition makes 75.4% of their shots from the free throw line. They have conceded 25.1 dimes and 48.8 total boards per game, which has them ranked 19th and 30th in the league.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Miami (-2.5)

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