Oklahoma City Thunder vs Miami Heat Prediction, 1/4/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Miami Heat

Date: Monday, January 4, 2021

Location: AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, FL

TV: Fox Sports Sun

Odds/Point Spread: Oklahoma City (+9.5)

The Oklahoma City Thunder (2-3) head to AmericanAirlines Arena on Monday where they'll meet the Miami Heat (2-3). Miami opens this game as 9.5-point favorites. The total opens at 213.5.

The Oklahoma City Thunder stepped onto the hardwood against the Orlando Magic and earned the victory with a final of 108-99 in their last game. Oklahoma City walked away from the contest with a 44.2% FG percentage (38 out of 86) and converted 13 out of their 41 shots from beyond the perimeter. At the charity stripe, the Thunder knocked down 19 of 21 tries for a percentage of 90.5%. With respect to rebounding, they collected a total of 52 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 22 assists for this contest while earning 5 steals and 4 blocks. Regarding defending, Oklahoma City allowed their opponent to shoot 37.0% from the field on 40 out of 108 shooting. Orlando earned 21 assists and had 7 steals in this game. On top of that, the Magic grabbed 55 rebounds (15 offensive, 40 defensive) and had 2 blocked shots. Orlando shot 75.0% at the charity stripe by converting 9 of 12 attempts. They made 10 of 38 attempts from downtown.

Darius Bazley is someone who had an impact in the game. He ended up finishing with 19 points on 7 out of 10 shooting. He played 32:24 minutes and snagged 12 rebounds. Bazley shot 70.0% from the field and recorded 2 dimes. One more player that was a determining factor in this contest for the Thunder was George Hill. He collected 2 boards and also earned 5 assists. He finished the game at 58.3% from the floor for the matchup via 7-of-12 (18 points). Overall, Hill played 27:33 minutes.

Oklahoma City comes into this matchup with a record of 2-3 this year. They have an average of 102.6 pts per game (29th in the NBA) while hitting 44.7% from the floor. The Thunder are hitting 32.5% on shots from downtown (64 of 197) and 68.4% from the charity stripe. As a team, Oklahoma City is pulling in 46.0 rebounds per game and has accumulated 112 assists for the year, which ranks 25th in the NBA in terms of passing. They turn it over 17.0 times per game and as a basketball team they commit 18.4 personal fouls per game. On defense, the Thunder are forcing 12.0 turnovers per contest while drawing 19.6 personal fouls. They are conceding 34.1% on shots from downtown and they rank 12th in the NBA in points per game allowed (109.4). The Thunder are giving up a field goal percentage of 44.9% (60 of 98) and they relinquish 49.8 boards per contest as a unit. They rank 8th in the NBA in allowing assists to the opposition with 121 relinquished this season.

The last time they took the hardwood, the Miami Heat walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 93-83 when they faced the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat snagged 36 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive boards for a total of 41 for the game. They also stuffed 2 attempts while earning 10 steals in the matchup. The Mavericks committed 25 personal fouls in this contest which got the Heat to the free throw line for a total of 25 tries. They were able to bury 18 of them for a rate of 72.0%. In regard to shooting from distance, Miami converted 7 out of their 33 tries (21.2%). When all was said and done, the Heat finished 29 out of 78 from the field which had them shooting 37.2%. The Heat permitted the Mavericks to knock down 32 of their 78 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 41.0% for the contest. They went 32.4% from three-point range by connecting on 12 of 37 and finished the game at 17 out of 23 at the free throw line (73.9%). In the matter of cleaning the glass, Miami permitted Dallas to grab 49 in all (4 on the offensive side).

Bam Adebayo pitched in for the Heat in this game. He made 8 of 12 in the game for a field goal percentage of 66.7%, which had him finishing with 19 points. Adebayo snagged 11 rebounds in his 36:29 minutes of time on the court and totaled 2 assists for the contest. One more player who came through for Miami was Avery Bradley. He racked up 15 points in his 17:38 mins on the hardwood by way of 5 of 8 shooting for the contest. Bradley wrapped this one up going 62.5% from the field and also contributing 2 assists and 2 boards.

Miami has a win-loss record of 2-3 on the year. The Heat commit 21.2 personal fouls per game and they shoot 78.1% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 24.4 times per game (14th in the league) and they turn it over 19.8 times per contest. Miami has scored 517 points on the season (103.4 per contest) and they pull in 40.2 boards per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Heat are connecting on 46.9% from the field, which ranks them 8th in the league. The Heat on defense are ranked 15th in basketball in points allowed per game with 111.2. They relinquish 23.4 dimes and 44.6 rebounds every game, which is 11th and 14th in basketball. The Miami defense allows 40.1% on shots from beyond the arc (77 of 192) and their opposition makes 76.3% of their foul shots. They have forced 16.8 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.7% from the floor (10th in the NBA).

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Miami (-9.5) and over 213.5 points

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