Suns vs. Heat Betting Line
Carrie Stroup here with your Suns vs. Heat betting line.
PHOENIX SUNS (31-29) at MIAMI HEAT (25-33)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Miami -1.5 Total: 206
The struggling Phoenix Suns travel to Miami as Goran Dragic faces his former team for the first time since becoming a member of the Heat.
The Suns have been able to contend all season long in a tough Western Conference, but have recently fallen on to hard times with SU losses in six of their past eight games (3-4-1 ATS). Over that period, they lost four games when being considered the favorite as they showed some poor defense; giving up 107.5 PPG in the eight contests. Phoenix took one of its worst losses of the year in its most recent game, when the Spurs dismantled them by a score of 101-74 as 2.5-point favorites at home. The offense shot a putrid 29.8% from the floor and netted a meager 41 points over the first three quarters.
Miami has been seemingly treading water throughout this year as they deal with injuries and have split the last eight games SU (2-4-2 ATS). In three of the four losses, they shot worse than 42% as a team but also proved that they can show up on offense with four performances of 100+ points. They took a close defeat in their most recent bout against the Hawks, losing 93-91 while getting two points as they shot a meager 39.5% from the field. Where they really lost the game was with sloppy play, as they turned the ball over a season-high 23 times.
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The road hasn’t been too welcoming for the Suns as they are 14-16 SU (15-12-3 ATS) in away games and will be going up against a Miami squad that is a poor 10-17 SU (9-17-1 ATS) at home. These teams met once this year already and it was the Heat who were able to grab a 103-97 victory on the road while being four-point underdogs. They hit an incredible 53.7% of their shots in the win, which was their ninth straight against this opponent.
Some trends to consider before dropping a unit on this game include that Phoenix is 16-6 ATS (73%) after an embarrassing loss of 20 or more points as a favorite since the 1996 campaign and Miami has gone 16-4 ATS (80%) after failing to cover the spread in three or more consecutive games over the last three years. On the injury front, PG Brandon Knight (Hip) is listed as questionable after leaving the last game for the Suns while the Heat continue to play without PF Chris Bosh (Blood Clot), and have C Chris Anderson (Illness) questionable and PG Goran Dragic (Back) probable.
The Suns continue to run one of the quickest paced offenses in the league and are currently scoring 105.8 PPG (3rd in league) behind 45.9% shooting (7th in league). Unfortunately, the defensive unit struggles to keep up with the other side of the ball and is allowing 105.1 PPG (3rd-worst in league) on 45.3% shooting (11th-worst in league).
PG Eric Bledsoe (17.2 PPG, 6.0 APG, 5.4 RPG, 1.7 SPG) has had very different results in his past two performances, first putting up a huge effort (28 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 blocks, 1 steal) in the win over OKC on Thursday before hitting a mere 3-of-9 shots for 12 points with six rebounds in the blowout loss to San Antonio on Saturday. He also performed poorly (4 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 7 turnovers) when his team lost to the Heat earlier in the season.
PG Brandon Knight (17.4 PPG, 5.3 APG, 4.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG) has put up 13.6 PPG (39% FG) with 4.0 APG in the five games with his new club and played only 17 minutes before leaving with a hip injury in his last contest. Before heading to the Suns, Knight faced Miami three times as a member of the Bucks, scoring 16.7 PPG (46% FG) with 4.3 APG, 4.0 RPG and 1.7 SPG.
PF Markieff Morris (15.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG) was another casualty of a pitiful game against the Spurs in which he played a mere 18 injury-riddled minutes in which he scored 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting. He played a solid game in his last meeting with the Heat, tallying 17 points with four rebounds.
The offense for Miami plays at a snail’s pace as they score 93.6 PPG (3rd-worst in league) behind some solid shooting (45.5% FG, 11th in league). The defense has been impressive with opponents putting up a mere 96.7 PPG (4th in league) on 45.7% shooting (8th-worst in league).
SG Dwyane Wade (20.7 PPG, 5.2 APG, 1.1 SPG) is coming off his first 20+ point game since January 25th (6 games) when he dropped 22 points against the Hawks in a loss on Saturday. He had a solid all-around game (16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block) against this opponent earlier this year.
PG Goran Dragic (16.0 PPG, 4.2 APG, 1.0 SPG) hasn’t quite found his footing with his new club yet and has single-digit points in two of the past three contests. He has spent a majority of his career with the Suns, but did spend some time in Houston and averaged 10.8 PPG (44% FG) with 5.5 APG in his six meetings (2 starts) against his former team.
C Hassan Whiteside (10.6 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 2.4 BPG) continues to impress and had another great performance (14 points, 24 rebounds, 2 blocks) against the Hawks on Saturday. He didn’t play against Phoenix earlier this year.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
