Denver Nuggets at Miami Heat Betting Odds


Opening Betting Line : Nuggets +8 / Heat 8
Over/Under : 204.5

Time : 7:30 PM EST Saturday March 19, 2011 on NBA TV

The Nuggets seem like they came out of the Carmelo Anthony deal just fine, as they new players they got are playing well winning 8 of their last 11 games. Denver is in the 5th spot in the Western Conference and they are within striking distance of Oklahoma City, only 3.5 games, back for the 4th spot, which would ensure they host a first round playoff series.

The Heat had looked like a legit title contender in their 3 game winning streak including beating the defending champion Lakers and then crushing the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs, but they lost at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder 96-85 on Wednesday. Miami got back on track last night beating Atlanta 106-85 on the road.

Both teams have been mediocre betting teams on the season. The Heat are 33-35-1 ATS and the Nuggets at 35-31-3. The home team is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 meetings between these 2 teams.

The Heat are a jump shooting team, as they rank near the bottom of the NBA in points in the paint. In the loss to Oklahoma the Big 3 was ice cold from deep with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh combining to hit on just 1 of their 10 3-pt shots. They will be facing a Denver defense that only ranks 21st in the league in opponents’ points allowed, but since they pulled the trigger on the Melo trade their defense has been playing much better.

Denver has also been hot on offense shooting at least 53% from the floor in their last 3 games heading into Friday’s night’s match up in Orlando. Heading into their game in Atlanta on Friday night the Heat have been playing great D in their last 4 games holding opponents to 40% shooting or lower in their last 4 games. They have to play good inside D in this game against the Denver frontcourt of Nene (15.1 ppg 7.5 rpg) and Wilson Chandler (16.1 ppg 5.9 rpg), who in his last game had his first double double for the Nuggets since coming over from New York.

Miami does have a good rebounding team ranking 9th in the league, but they have to come together as a team to hit the boards with C Zydrunas Ilgauskas and F Udonis Haslem, who are combining for 12.5 rpg per game, out with injuries.

The Big 3 has to score tonight for the Heat to win, as they are combining for almost 60 ppg this season and the 4th leading scorer Haslem is Out.

Betting Trends

Denver is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 road games, 11-1 ATS in their last 12 games, and has an Under record of 6-2 in their last 8 games.

Miami is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games against teams with a winning percentage above 60%, is 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games, and has an Under record of 6-2 in their last 8 home games.

The favorite is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 games between these 2 teams.

Our Selection : We're not sold on the historically trends in this series, but we do like the way the Nuggets have played as of late winning 10 of their last 13. The key is the way that they have been winning. The majority of the victories have been in dominate fashion by double digit margins and the losses were by 3,1 and 6 points.
Take Denver +8 at 5Dimes.


Future Betting Odds

NBA Handicapping

Dallas Mavericks at Miami Heat Odds 6-12
The Mavs are up 3-2 in this series heading to South Beach and for the Heat to force Game 7 they will have to play better in the 4th quarter, especially LeBron James. 5Dimes has the hometown Heat as 5-point favorites in Game 6 with a total of 187.

NBA Toolbox

Sportsbooks