Game Time: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 8th, 2022 

Venue:  Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: NL

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread:  NL

WynnBet: Spread: NL

Heat: 24-15, 4th place Western Conference

Suns: 30-8, 1st place Western Conference

A matchup of recent NBA Finals Losers.  The Miami Heat lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 bubble.  The Phoenix Suns lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021.  They are both still strong contenders for a title this season.  Let’s get it on and make some money!

The Miami Heat are an “as he goes” team.  They have a fantastic star player in SF Jimmy Butler… Jimmy Butler is a guy who plays hard, with emotion, on both ends. He also has a nice deep team around him when they are healthy… They haven’t been very healthy this season.  Covid has ripped through the whole league this season, but that isn’t the health problems the Heat suffer from.  The Heat are victims of SG Victor Oladipo never quit being right, he came to the team while injured (Quad) and is not expected to make his debut until mid January. Also C Bam Adebayo… the Heat's other real star C Bam Adebayo went down with a thumb injury (torn UCL?) on December 3rd and is expected to miss 6 full weeks… and PF Markieff Morris went down on November 18th with whiplash!  Whiplash is a severe neck injury and Markieff is not expected back anytime soon.  Add to all that the Covid stuff that every team is suffering from and what the Heat are doing is miraculous!  They are in 4th place in the Eastern Conference!  They have won 7 of their last ten games…. Sure they got lucky… The Detroit Pistons (twice), the Orlando Magic, the Indiana Pacers, and the Houston Rockets are all on  the list of recent wins… still you have to play the team in front of you and a win is a win.  Miami won their last game against the Portland Trail Blazers (there is another one!) 115-109… it was a win SU, a win ATS, and an Over.  They will get none of that against the Suns.

This week the Golden State Warriors were in first place.. Both in the Western Conference and in the NBA as a whole… Then the Mavericks had a number retirement ceremony for Dirk Nowitzki during the game they played Golden State… The Mave blew the warriors out of the water vaulting the Suns into first place by ½ a game.  The next night the Suns played the floundering, overtraded, too many cooks in the front office kitchen, impulsively owned, Los Angeles Clippers 106-89.  That win gave the Phoenix Suns a full game and ½ above the Warriors and established the Suns as the first NBA team to 30 wins this season.  The Suns are on a three-game winning streak and have won 7 of their last ten games.  The firepower is on display as during the three-game winning streak they also went 3-0 ATS with big double digit wins.  The thing of absolute wonder with the Suns was on display last game against the Los Angeles Clippers as PG Chris Paul went for triple-double and thoroughly embarrassed the bad team that traded him a few seasons back.

The WINNING just keeps happening and tonight I have a game that is a rock solid BEST BET in the NBA tonight and one you will not want to miss out on. Get with me on this huge payday or lock in on a long term as I stake my position up the leaderboard! Go get 'em! Get Brian Bitler’s picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

Miami is 24-15 on the season, but 22-17 ATS.  They have logged 24 Overs and 15 Unders.  They are 12-11 in road games.

Phoenix is 30-8 on the season, but 21-17 ATS.  They have notched 17 Overs, 20 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are a dominant 17-4 in home games.

The Miami Heat are 15th in the NBA in scoring with 108.1 points per game, 17th in rebounds with 44.7 per, and 13th in AST/TO with 1.8.  They are shooting 14th in FG%, 4th in 3PT%, and 7th in FT%.  The Heat makes their bones on the defensive end and are currently ranked 4th in the NBA on defense while only allowing 104.3 ppg.

The Phoenix Suns are 3rd in points per game with 112.4, 6th in rebounds per game with 46.2, and 5th in AST/TO with 1.9.  They are shooting the lights out night after night… 2nd in FG%, 5th in 3PT%, and 6th in FT%.  They are currently ranked 5th in defense while only giving up 104.5 ppg.

Our prediction for Saturday, January 8th is….  Suns 118 - Heat 101

The Suns will run over the injury depleted Heat… It shouldn’t be unthinkable that C Deandre Ayton (available to return given a covid test result Saturday Morning) has the game of his season against Heat C Omer Yurtseven.

Don't miss our champion handicappers' Free NBA Picks and Premium Selections every day here at Bigal.com. Just click on Shop Picks for our Best Bets, or click on Shop Subscriptions to

join for a week or a month. And if you enjoyed this Heat/Suns Preview, be sure to bookmark Bigal.com for our daily Game Previews and Predictions.  Get help with all your college football picks, National Football league, NCAA brackets, or any prop bets on your season schedule. 

Phoenix is 3-1 ATS versus Miami over the last 3 seasons.

Phoenix is 4-0 ATS versus Southeast division opponents this season.

Phoenix is 3-0 ATS in January Games this season.

Heat: SF Jimmy Butler (covid), C/PF Bam Adebayo (thumb) Out, PF Markieff Morris (neck) Out

Suns: C JaVale McGee (covid) Out, SG Landry Shamet (covid) Out, 

Starting Lineups

Heat: SF Caleb Martin, PF P.J. Tucker, C Omer Yurtseven, PG Kyle Lowry, SG Max Stus

Suns: PF Cameron Johnson, Sf Mikal Bridges, C Jalen Smith, SG Devin Booker, PG Chris Paul

Heat

Points: Jimmy Butler 23.2

Assists: Kyle Lowry 8.3

Rebounds: Bam Adebayo 10.2

Steals: Jimmy Butler 2.0

Blocks: Caleb Martin 0.6

Suns

Points: Devin Booker 23.5

Assists: Chris Paul 10.1

Rebounds: Deandre Ayton 11.1

Steals: Chris Paul 1.9

Blocks: Bismack Biyombo 2.3

Heat: Erik Spoelstra

Suns: Monty Williams