Game Time: 7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 

Venue: FTX Arena, Miami, Florida

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: NL

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread:  NL

WynnBet: Spread: NL

NBA Standings

Portland: 18-25, 10th place Western Conference

Miami: 28-16, 2nd place Western Conference

An NBA matchup between an Eastern Conference powerhouse and a Western Conference doormat.  These opponents are moving in different directions this season.  Every single Miami Starter and a few of the bench players could win a starting job on the Portland Trail Blazers… If Damian Lilliard and CJ McCollum weren’t currently out/Quest with injury I wouldn’t be able to write that… but they are.  Also the Trail Blazers are in a spot where they simply have to move those injured star players in order to reshuffle the deck.  Portland, like no other NBA franchise, has had entire decades derailed by making smart choices in the draft and watching those guys hit the injury list just as the team was getting good.  The perennial frustration of rebuilding around a star player’s injury should be enough for Portland to declare that enough is enough… This team and this city needs to move to the Detroit Pistons Championship Team model of simply building for depth instead of trying to hit homeruns with each draft pick.  The Miami Heat don’t find their star players through the draft… they build a place that star players who don’t like their current team will be happy to go to.  Shaq, LeBron, Jimmy Butler, and now Kyle Lowry all played their best years somewhere else… but were happy to move to a player friendly city and a player friendly squad that works the salary cap and trading market in anticipation of big stars wanting to be there.  Sure, the weather and nightclubs are a plus.  Sure the availability of ocean front mansions for rent is a plus.  The biggest plus is the constant expectation of winning from a stable Owner, GM, and Coach and celebrating those wins.

The Portland Trail Blazers are officially derailed.  They have won their last two games in a row, but that is scotch tape on a leaking dam.  In fact they have 4 wins out of their last five games… but if we pull out we’ll see that it is just 5 wins out of their last ten.  This team is capable of beating the Orlando Magic, the Sacramento Kings, and even the Brooklyn Nets when they are missing ⅔ of their 3 star players.  Finding yourself in 10th place at the halfway point of the season in either conference requires that you either start winning at a better clip than .500… or losing at a better (worse?) clip than .500.  You need to go up for a playoff spot… or down for better draft odds.  The middle is poison.  

The Miami Heat were just handed a fantastic gift.  Nobody roots for players to be injured, but when you are a ½ game behind the Brooklyn Nets for the #2 spot in the East and find out that Kevin Durant will miss 4-6 weeks with a sprained MCL… you may smile a bit.  The result is what happened.. The Nets dropped a couple games and the Heat won a couple games and now the Heat are in the #2 spot!  They are also right on the heels of the Chicago Bulls for the #1 spot with a slightly more accomplished and experienced roster.  The future is bright for Miami they have won 7 of their last ten games while C Bam Adebayo has missed some games.  Plus the teams that beat them in that stretch are the Phoenix Suns (great), the Golden State Warriors (great), and the Sacramento Kings (fluke)... that is a real solid ten games. 

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The Trail Blazers are 18-25 on the season, but 17-25-1 ATS.  They have logged 20 Overs, 22 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are a disastrous 4-14 on the road.

The Heat are 28-16 on the season, but 26-18 ATS.  They have notched 26 Overs and 18 Unders.  They are 14-5 in home games.

The Trail Blazers are 14th in scoring with 108.7 ppg, 23rd in rebounds with 43.8 per game, 18th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6.  They are 22nd in FG%, 11th in 3PT%, and 11th in FT%.  The defense in Portland is like a screen door in the rain… they are 26th while allowing 112.5 ppg from opponents.

The Heat are 15th in scoring with 108.6 ppg, 16th in rebounds with 44.9 per game, and 13th in AST/TO ratio 1.8. They are shooting 15th in FG%, 2nd in 3PT%, and 5th in FT%.  The Heat have a huge advantage in the defensive end.. They are ranked 4th while holding opponents to 104.2 ppg.

Our prediction for Wednesday, January 19th is….  Heat 118 - Trail Blazers 101

The Heat should roll over the Trail Blazers.  They are better at most every position and not fighting to keep their jobs (as are most of the Blazers).   

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Blazers: SG Norman Powell (conditioning) Quest ** PF Cody Zeller (knee) Quest ** SF Larry Nance Jr (knee) Out indefinitely ** PG Damian Lilliard (abdominal) Out til mid-march

Heat: PG Kyle Lowry (personal) Quest ** SG Victor Oladipo (knee) Out ** PF Marcus Morris (neck) Out

Blazers: SF Nassir Little, PF Robert Covington, C Jusuf Nurkic, PG Anfernee Simons, SG CJ McCollum

Heat: PF PJ Tucker, SF Jimmy Butler, C Bam Adebayo, PG Gabe Vincent, SG Duncan Robinson

Blazers

Points: Damian Lilliard 24

Assists: Damian Lilliard 7.3

Rebounds: Jusuf Nurkic 10.6

Steals: Robert Covington 1.5

Blocks: Robert Covington 1.3

Heat

Points: Jimmy Butler 22.4

Assists: Kyle Lowry 8.3

Rebounds: Bam Adebayo 10.1

Steals: Jimmy Butler 1.9

Blocks: Caleb Martin 0.6

Coaches

Blazers: Chauncey Billups

Heat: Erik Spoelstra