Heat vs. Trail Blazers NBA Picks and Prediction

This East vs. West showdown will take place in the Great Northwest on Sunday night. Miami and Portland are presently in the playoff picture and each is trying to move up to a more advantageous position.

Both Miami and Portland are hovering around the 6^th seed in their respective conferences. In each team’s case, they would like to move up and avoid facing one of the Top 3 clubs in their conference as that is where the best teams are. Going up to No. 5 is more manageable. And as it stands today, a hot streak for either squad could propel them to the No. 4 slot which comes with home court advantage. At online sports betting sites like BetOnline, their NBA odds have the Heat as one-point road favorites with a total of 222.

Miami Heat vs. Portland Trail Blazers

Sunday, April 11, 2021 – 10:00 PM EDT at Moda Center

Miami Intent on Continued Improvement and Greater Stability

Miami (27-25, 21-29-2 ATS) starts an onerous four-game road trip in Portland, followed by going to even tougher stops like Phoenix and Denver next. The Heat will at least be fresh other than the long-cross country flight having played Thursday and winning over the Los Angeles Lakers 110-104 as 9.5-point favorites.

Miami has played in streaks for months now and has won four of five, which is on the heels of losing six straight and against the spread.

The Heat is 4-2 SU and ATS when playing with two days off, winning by an average of 5.0 points a contest. Their main strength in their defense, ranked 3^rd in field goal percentage defense, 6^th in defensive efficiency and 4^th in point surrendered. This has always been a key fundamental to coach Erik Spoelstra, now in his 12^th season in the lead chair and 25^th with the organization.

#JIMVP did #JIMVP things tonight pic.twitter.com/0KP0dYE4Dz

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 9, 2021

The glue on both ends of the floor for Miami is Jimmy Butler, who continually plays hard and is the unquestioned leader verbally and by example. Butler cannot do it alone and Bam Adebayo has continued to elevate his game and is taking a greater role on the floor and in the locker room.

Where this team tends to rise or fall or more what they get from secondary players like Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson. When they produce, Goran Dragic is healthy and newly acquired Victor Oladipo is fit to play, this group is better than their record.

How Should Portland Be Viewed?

When looking at Portland (31-21, 26-26 ATS), are they a Final Four team out west or just another outfit good enough to reach the postseason?

Offensively, the Trail Blazers belong among the eight-best teams once we get past the first round of the playoffs, ranked 5^th in scoring and 6^th in offensive efficiency. However, because of their dependence on the backcourt, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in particular, when the three-ball and outside shots are not dropping, Portland can be held in check by better defenses.

When that occurs, there is no backup plan since they are 27^th in points allowed and 29^th in defensive efficiency. This roster has been constructed to outscore opponents, not out-defend them.  That’s where the problem lies to move up. Every team ahead of Portland in the Western Conference is significantly better than them on the defensive end of the floor and that is brought home by the Blazers having a 11-15 ATS mark at the Moda Center.

Neil Olshey is the GM for Portland and he’s the one responsible for putting this roster together. Not having center Jusuf Nurkic for 10 weeks didn’t help the Blazers. Nurkic has missed so much time the last few seasons, his defensive skills are diminished and he’s picking up fouls quickly and not a factor where they need him most.

Against a club like Miami, let’s see how coach Terry Stotts' team reacts.

The Point Spread Winner

When we saw the line on this contest, we hung our head, because that’s exactly the number we had. That meant for NBA picks, we had to dig deeper to find (hopefully) the right answer.

We are encouraged Miami has begun to shoot the rock better, averaging just over 50 percent in their last four contests. With the Heat facing a weak defense bunch like Portland, we could see that momentum carrying over.

Portland did win in South Florida 17 days ago, 125-122 as 2.5-point road faves by connecting on 20 threes. The Blazers have held the edge at home in this matchup at 5-1 ATS, yet, Miami is 7-3 ATS away from home in their last 10 and have a little momentum that could be the difference.

NBA Picks:  Heat -1 (-110) at Betonline (visit our BetOnline Review)

Heat -1 (-110)

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*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.

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