Fargo's NBA Nonconference Game of the Month
- Handicapper
- Matt Fargo
- League
- NBA
- Competition
- Miami Heat vs Portland Trail Blazers
- Release Date
- 10/25/2022 08:10 PM
- Event Date
- 10/26/2022 10:10 PM
- Bet Type
- Point Spread
- Pick
-
Miami Heat +1.5 (-115)
(DraftKings)
- Outcome
- Win
- Analysis
- This is a play on the MIAMI HEAT for our NBA Nonconference Game of the Month. Things have not started well for Miami as it is off to a 1-3 start and most troubling is the fact all four of those games were at home. Now the Heat hit the road on the west coast for the start of a three-game trip that includes a game at Golden St. on Thursday and while that would normally be a spot for this to constitute a lookahead, that is not going to happen with the brutal start. Hitting the road at this time may not seem ideal but heat coach Erik Spoelstra said playing on the road could be beneficial because of the bonding experience and that can help a team like this that has had past success and now dealing with some early adversity. Miami was an underdog 23 times last season and won 14 of those outright. Portland is coming off a win over Denver on Monday to improve to 4-0 and it is a surprise as the last time it opened 4-0 was 1999 and the Blazers are the lone undefeated team in the Western Conference. Damian Lillard finished with 31 points and eight assists for the Blazers and he has been on fire as he was the Western Conference Player of the Week prior to that and he is now averaging 33. 2 ppg on 50 percent shooting while averaging 5.5 rebounds per game and 5.2 assists per game. The Blazers have impressively won all four games as underdogs and now they are in the role of favorites, albeit a small one, and we will take the value on the other side against the desperate team. This is the perfect contrarian spot with Miami 0-4 ATS and Portland 4-0 ATS. Here, we play against home favorites off a win against a division rival in the first half of the season. This situation is 82-43 ATS (65.6 percent) over the last five seasons. 10* (555) Miami Heat
