The regular season is about to conclude, but the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City are middle-seeded teams who are trying to secure homecourt advantage in the first round. Don’t expect anything less than a good ol’ dogfight when they meat at 8:00 AM on August 13^th (Manila time).

HOME TEAM: Oklahoma City Thunder (43-27)

The Thunder are 3-3 in the bubble and have been consistently flipping between wins and losses. They are averaging 107 points per game on 43.6% shooting in that stretch.

Injuries are currently slowing the team down. Three starters – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (calf), Steven Adams (leg), and Danilo Gallinari (ankle) – were unable to play in the recent outing and their statuses are still unclear for tomorrow. Sixth-man Dennis Schroder is also sidelined, and hasn’t played in their last five outings.

The three are huge contributors in the rotation, with Gilgeous-Alexander (19.1 PPG) and Gallinari (19.1 PPG) being OKC’s first and second-leading scorers, and Adams being the main interior presence.

Should they continue to miss time, future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul (17.7 PPG, 6.8 APG) will have a ton on his plate again. He saw limited action in Tuesday’s 128-101 loss to the Phoenix Suns, playing just 24 minutes (second-lowest this season) and tallying 14 points and seven dimes.

ROAD TEAM: Miami Heat (44-27)

The Heat just returned to the win column after back-to-back losses and are also 3-3 in the bubble. They eased past the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, 114-92, and also extinguished the scorching TJ Warren.

All-Star Jimmy Butler is back in the lineup following a three-game absence. He registered all-around numbers in the hyped-up rematch with Warren, punching in 19 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and four steals in just 29 minutes.

Miami will continue boasting an array of solid contributors. Outside of Butler, six other Heat players are averaging double figures since the restart, and all are above 13 PPG – Goran Dragic, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, Jae Crowder, and, brace yourselves… Kelly Olynyk. In that seven, four are also dishing over four assists per game.

The offense is putting up 113.7 points and 14.5 threes per game in its last six, while the defense is forcing the opposition to 16.3 turnovers per contest.

PREDICTIONS:

The meeting last January featured balanced scoring on both sides, with OKC having six guys in double figures and the Heat having seven. Miami got the edge in the end and won, 115-108.

Look for a similar type of production tomorrow. These two squads operate a team-oriented offense and are very unselfish at any given play.

I expect a close game whether OKC stays shorthanded or not, but the Heat should be able to win this one, 110-106.