Heat Pacers Line at Miami -3
Carrie Stroup here with your Heat Pacers line for March 26, 2012. Miami was the -3 away favorite against a team with a solid record. You can find all the latest NBA lines here at Sportsbook.com, which was offering up to $250 in FREE CASH when you join today (*restrictions do apply – see site for details).
Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Miami -3 & 192.5
Opening Line & Total: Heat -3 & 193
The Heat look for a sixth SU win in a row over the Pacers when they visit Indiana on Monday night.
The Heat dismantled the Pacers in Indianapolis on Feb. 14, beating them 105-90 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score would indicate (the Heat led by as many as 35 in the fourth quarter before the Pacers rallied against their second unit). But the Pacers hung tough in Miami 16 days ago, pushing the Heat to overtime in a 93-91 loss, a game they led by five with two minutes left in overtime. And they’re getting the Heat at the right time. Miami lost by 16 in Oklahoma City on Sunday night, and the Heat are just 7-6 SU and 4-9 ATS in the second game of a back-to-back, including 2-3 SU and ATS when going from a road game to another road game in a back-to-back.
Indiana played a three-game-in-three-nights-in-three-cities stretch recently, going 2-1 SU and 1-2 ATS. They bounced back from a home loss to Phoenix by hammering the Bucks in Milwaukee, 125-104. The Pacers have really shot the ball well in the past four games, averaging 105.8 PPG and hitting 48.4% FG and 47.3% from three. SF Danny Granger (17.9 PPG) was outstanding over these four games last week, averaging 21.0 PPG and shooting 8-for-14 from three. C Roy Hibbert (13.1 PPG, 9.0 RPG) has effectively snapped out of a mid-March funk, averaging 18.2 PPG on 58.6% FG and 8.8 RPG over his past five contests. Sixth man George Hill (9.8 PPG) averaged 11.8 PPG on 57.1% FG (8-of-13 threes) last week, including a 24-point performance in Milwaukee on Saturday.
The Heat suffered their most lopsided loss of the season on Sunday, dropping a 103-87 road game to the Thunder. They allowed OKC to shoot 52.7% from the field, as C Kendrick Perkins and PF Serge Ibaka combined to score 35 points on 16-for-21 shooting. SF LeBron James (26.8 PPG on 53.7% FG, 8.3 RPG, 6.7 APG) and SG Dwyane Wade (22.9 PPG on 50.6% FG) had relatively pedestrian nights, with James going for 17 points, three rebounds and seven assists. Wade added 22 while taking just 10 shots in the game.
PF Chris Bosh (18.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG) had another decent night shooting the ball, hitting 6-of-11 from the field and scoring 18 points. He’s now averaging 21.3 PPG on 62.0% FG over his past four games. James has dominated in six matchups with the Pacers since he joined the Heat prior to last season, averaging 29.3 PPG on 52.7% FG, 8.2 RPG and 7.2 APG.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
