Oklahoma City Thunder vs Miami Heat Prediction, 12/20/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Miami Heat

Date: Friday, December 20, 2024

Location: Kaseya Center in Miami, FL

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

The Miami Heat (13-11) are welcoming the Oklahoma City Thunder (20-5) at Kaseya Center on Friday.

The Thunder faced off with the Rockets and earned the victory with a final of 111-96 in their last game. In the matter of personal fouls, the Thunder finished with 24 while the Rockets racked up 25 personal fouls. They buried 11 of 46 attempts from beyond the perimeter. Houston finished the contest at 60.0% from the free throw line by knocking down 15 of 25 shots. Furthermore, Houston had 49 boards (19 offensive, 30 defensive) and added 4 blocks. Houston earned 17 assists and had 7 steals in this contest. In terms of the defense, Oklahoma City allowed their opponent to shoot 36.5% from the field on 35 of 96 shooting. They also dished out 19 assists in the matchup in addition to creating 16 turnovers and getting 12 steals. In the matter of pulling down rebounds, they collected 43 with 4 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Thunder converted 28 of their 32 tries for a percentage of 87.5%. Oklahoma City ended the contest having earned a 45.0% field goal percentage (36 of 80) and buried 11 of their 30 3-point attempts.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one guy who played a role in the matchup. He ended up scoring 32 points on 8 of 21 shooting. He was on the court for 38 minutes and collected 8 rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander finished shooting 38.1% from the floor and totaled 6 assists.

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Oklahoma City heads into this contest with a win-loss mark of 20-5 this year. They are averaging 115.6 pts per game (10th in the NBA) while hitting 46.5% from the field. The Thunder are hitting 35.1% on 3-point shots (347 of 990) and 81.0% from the free throw line. As a team, Oklahoma City is pulling in 43.7 boards per game and has earned 643 assists for the year, which is 20th in the NBA in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 11.8 times per contest and as a team they commit 21.1 personal fouls per game.

On the defensive end, the Thunder are forcing 19.1 turnovers every game while drawing 18.3 personal fouls. They are ranked 3rd in basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 599 conceded this season. The Thunder defensively are allowing a field goal percentage of 42.4% (904 of 2,130) and they concede 48.0 boards per game as a team. They give up 33.1% on shots from beyond the perimeter while they are 1st in the league in PPG from their opponents (103.5).

The last time they took the court, the Heat went home defeated by a final of 125-124 against the Pistons. The Heat corralled 35 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards totaling 44 for the matchup. They turned it over 13 times, while recording 16 steals for the game. The Pistons committed 24 fouls in this contest which got the Heat to the charity stripe for a total of 24 tries. They were able to make 22 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 91.7%. In regard to 3-point shots, Miami converted 12 of their 43 attempts (27.9%). When all was said and done, the Heat went 45 out of 99 from the field which gave them a rate of 45.5%. The Heat permitted the Pistons to make 44 of their 90 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 48.9% for the contest. They finished 50.0% from distance by shooting 20 out of 40 and ended up shooting 17 of 23 from the free throw line (73.9%). Regarding rebounding, Miami allowed Detroit to snag 52 in total (7 on the offensive glass).

Jimmy Butler was important for the Heat in this game. He converted 12 of 21 in this game for a field goal percentage of 57.1%, and accumulated 19 rebounds. Butler recorded 35 points in his 44 mins on the court and tallied 10 assists for the matchup.

Miami has a win-loss mark of 13-11 for the campaign. The Heat are responsible for committing 16.3 personal fouls per contest and they shoot 78.2% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 26.4 times per game (12th in the league) and they turn it over 12.9 times per contest. Miami has earned 2,707 points on the season (112.8 per game) and they grab 43.9 boards per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Heat are connecting on 45.3% from the floor, which ranks them 23rd in the league.

The Miami defense gives up 36.6% on shots from 3-point land (332 of 908) and their opponents are connecting on 80.3% of their free throw shots. They relinquish 27.0 dimes and 45.5 rebounds per contest, ranking them 20th and 26th in the NBA. The Heat on the defensive end are ranked 6th in the league in points allowed per contest with 109.7. They have forced 15.4 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.2% from the field (13th in the league).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Oklahoma City

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