The Golden State Warriors are coming off a 128-114 road loss to the young Detroit Pistons last Monday. They are now 1-3 in their last four games and will look to right the ship when they meet the Miami Heat again. The Heat lost to the Sacramento Kings last Sunday, 119-113, to end a three-game road trip with just a win and two losses.
Catch this game live on Wednesday, November 2, at 7:30 AM, Manila time.
Away: Golden State Warriors (3-4/0-3 Away)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Stephen Curry (questionable)
- SG: Klay Thompson (questionable)
- SF: Andrew Wiggins
- PF: Draymond Green
- C: Kevon Looney
The Warriors are having an uneven start to the season. They are also on a two-game skid which they are looking to snap this Wednesday against the last team they’ve beaten. In their 123-110 win at home last week against Miami, the Warriors relied on the hot hands of Stephen Curry, who dropped 33 points on 13/22 shooting with seven 3-pointers. Thompson chipped in 19 points with five threes, while Andrew Wiggins produced 18 points and 10 rebounds. Curry, however, seems to be dealing with a neck injury that could potentially hold him out of the rematch against the Heat.
Thompson also missed the Pistons game for unspecified reasons, so he can also be viewed as questionable. Not having Curry and Thompson around would take away so much from the Warriors’ high-scoring offense which is No. 1 in the NBA to date with 118.7 points per game, but they should still be able to find a way to contend with Miami which has one of the least productive offenses in the league – 25th and 26th in scoring offense and adjusted offensive rating, respectively.
The Warriors are 7-2 against the spread in their last nine games after a loss.
Home: Miami Heat (2-5/1-3 Home)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Kyle Lowry
- SG: Tyler Herro
- SF: Caleb Martin
- PF: Jimmy Butler
- C: Bam Adebayo
Like the Warriors, the Heat are also off to a rocky start, having also lost both their last couple of games. Against the Kings, Jimmy Butler shot just 4/11 from the field for 13 points, a poor follow-up to his 27-point outing in the loss to the Warriors. However, Tyler Herro recovered from a seven-point performance versus Golden State by exploding for 34 points in the Sacramento game. Perhaps Butler and Herro are finally going to find their offenses again in the same game when they take on Golden State anew.
Butler is leading the Heat with 21.3 points per game on 49 FG%, while Herro is right behind him with 19.9 points per outing on 46.8 FG%. Heat big man Bam Adebayo should also be feeling good about his chances of putting up enormous numbers versus Golden State, as he had 26 points in the first meeting with the defending champions this season. The Heat were massively outrebounded by Golden State, 50-31, so cleaning the glass and slowing down the Warriors are going to be points of emphasis by head coach Erik Spoelstra.
The Heat are 4-1 ATS in their last five Wednesday (Manila) games.
PREDICTIONS:
Spread: The Warriors (-1.5) cover the spread.
Over/Under: The total (227.5) hits the Over.
