Miami Heat vs Portland Trail Blazers Point Spread Picks

Portland has gone UNDER three of four and 13 of 17, including Sunday's 117-110 win over Sacramento. The Trail Blazers have stayed four of five against the Eastern Conference, and they are 5-0 UNDER their past five Thursday games. Portland is #30 in the NBA, shooting just 33.7 percent from 3-point distance. The Trail Blazers have been playing better, especially on the defensive end, since Tiago Splitter took over as interim coach, and they have hit the .500 mark. Portland is not a great shooting team overall, ranking #28 in field goal percentage (.450). The Trail Blazers are #17 in points per game with 116.3. Take the UNDER.

Portland is playing well with four wins in its last five games. But the Trail Blazers have yet to play an Eastern Conference team - until now. This is the first time this season they have ventured to play a foe on Eastern Standard Time. So their bodies may not be fully adjusted to the three-hour time difference. That matters against this team because the Heat have been playing at the fastest tempo of any team in the NBA. Miami has its confidence up, too, after scoring a franchise-record 53 points in the first quarter during its 126-108 home win against the Hornets last night. All-Star center Bam Adebayo played only eight minutes in that game before departing with a foot injury. The injury is not considered severe, and Adebayo is listed as day-to-day. Miami is 3-0 SU and ATS at home this season. There is good value to the Heat as a home underdog here. Take the Heat.

Combine the Heat (-525) and the Nuggets (-800) into a 2-team parlay at -295 odds.

Miami beat the Trail Blazers 106-96 on Feb. 27, but the Heat have been very inconsistent recently and have lost six of 10 (4-6 ATS) following a home loss by 21 points to Golden State on Tuesday. The defense broke down as the Warriors shot 55 percent while the Heat shot just 40 percent overall and eight of 33 from 3-point range. Miami is just 1-6 ATS its past seven home games and 0-6 ATS overall as a favorite of at least 11 points. Portland is on another losing streak, but it did cover the number against the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver before losing two more against Houston and Atlanta. The Trail Blazers have covered five of six following an ATS loss. Grab the big points with the Trail Blazers as a Max Play.