Miami Heat at Charlotte Hornets Betting Preview/Prop Pick

The Maimi Heat head out to Charlotte to take on the Hornets in an Eastern Conference showdown. Miami, currently No.2 in the conference, finally snapped their three-game losing streak.

Now, as they prepare to take on Charlotte, they’ll have to deal with LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges. Hopefully, they’ll have an answer for the speedy Charlotte Hornets in today’s game.

The Hornets are going through a bit of a rough patch and are on a three-game losing streak. Their most recent loss was by a single point to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Today, they’ll face the No.2 team in the conference, and better be on their toes. If the Hornets aren’t careful, the Heat could get ahead early, making it a hard hill to climb. So, who should you take at the sportsbook?

Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler could miss today’s game

Jimmy Butler is still listed as “day-to-day” as he deals with a toe injury. Most sources say that he should be able to go by tonight, but his minutes might be limited. Unfortunately for Miami, Butler isn’t the only player that could be missing from the game.

Both P.J. Tucker and Max Strus are listed as “questionable” as well. It seems as if injuries will continue to plague Miami this year.

This is part of the reason that they were on a three-game losing streak before their win over the Spurs. Still, Miami can hang its hat on their stone-cold defense, allowing only 104.79 points per game.

They’ll need all the defense they can get against the Charlotte offense, who ranks No.1 in the NBA. If they can’t slow down the Hornets scorers, Miami could be overwhelmed tonight.

Charlotte Hornets: Looking to stop the skid against Miami

The Hornets might have the No.1 offense in the NBA, but it hasn’t helped them lately. Over the last three games, defenses have found ways to keep the Hornets under 110 points. Normally, their average is 114.09, the highest in the NBA.

Not long ago, the Clippers were able to hold them to 90 points. The Hornets will have to find a way to get their offense going again tonight. 

This is going to be tough against the No.5 defense in the NBA. The only good news for the Hornets is that the Heat are dealing with a ton of injuries.

The question still remains, though, can the Hornets find a way to get back to scoring over 110 points. If they can’t, and their offense sputters, they could fall to four straight losses. Let’s take a look at the spread for this game.

The betting lines for the Heat versus the Hornets

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the Miami Heat come into this game as the favorite. Even with the injuries, they’ve had more consistency than the Hornets. They’re also ranked much higher than them in the Eastern Conference.

That being said, we’re going to go with Charlotte to win this game straight up with the final score coming in UNDER the Vegas total of 227.5.

Dunkel's Pick: Charlotte (+3.5); UNDER

Prop Pick

Miami (-120) UNDER 115.5 Points

Miami is averaging 108.8 points per game on offense, which ranks No. 16 in the league. That average drops to 107.7 points per game on the road. Scores have gone UNDER in seven of the Heat’s last nine games versus a team with a winning record (Charlotte is 28-25 overall).

With Dunkel predicting Charlotte win by the score of 109-108, take the Heat (-120) to go UNDER their Vegas team total of 115.5 points against the Hornets.

Kyle Lowry (-135) OVER 3.5 Rebounds

Lowry was back in Miami's starting lineup Thursday after sitting out since January 15th. While his conditioning might not be completely back, he should get his normal amount of minutes and start to approach his season stat averages. Look for Lowry to go over the line of 3.5 rebounds against Charlotte.

Be sure to check out all of today’s NBA picks!