The Heat roll into Golden State tonight, with both teams coming off wins in their previous games. Meanwhile, the Blazers and Clippers meet in what should be a barn burner between two of the NBA’s highest scoring teams.
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Sports Betting Preview for February 12
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[sc:NBA240banner ]NBA – Heat Too Much For Suns
The Heat survived the pesky Suns for a 103-97 win. LeBron James scored 37 points and added nine rebounds to pace Miami.
NBA – Thunder Edge Blazers
Kevin Durant dropped 36 points and Jeremy Lamb added 19 more as the Thunder beat the Blazers 98-95. Oklahoma City improved its league-best record to 42-12.
NCAAB – Michigan Tops Ohio State
Playing in front of almost 19,000 Buckeyes fans, the No. 15 Wolverines dug deep into their reserves and turned a four-point halftime deficit into a 70-60 win against No. 22 Ohio State. It was Michigan’s first win in Columbus since 2003.
Top Games to Bet On
NBA – Miami Heat vs. Golden State Warriors (10:30 PM ET)
LeBron James returned to his MVP form against the Suns Tuesday night after scoring just 13 points in the Heat’s humbling loss to Utah last Saturday.
James scored a game-high 37 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Miami pulled away from the Suns late in the fourth quarter for a 103-97 victory. Chris Bosh chipped in 21 points and Mario Chalmers finished with 13.
Defense came up big for Miami in their latest win. Phoenix was averaging 42.0 PPG in the paint coming into the game but was held to just 30 against the Heat. Miami improved to 36-14 SU. The Heat continue their road trip tonight against Golden State. They are 3-1 ATS in their last four road games.
Unlike Miami, the Warriors took care of business when they had their chance to play a cellar-dwelling team, dismantling Philadelphia 123-80 Monday night.
Mareese Speights, who is averaging a modest 6.1 PPG and 3.5 RPG on the season, filled in admirably for his injured comrades Andrew Bogut and Jermaine O’Neal in that game, putting up a career-high 32 points and eight rebounds. Hard to say what fuelled his performance more, the increase in minutes or how dreadful the Sixers are this season.
Speights, along with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, will look to keep that up tonight against a visiting Miami squad. In the two teams’ last meeting, the Warriors upended the Heat in South Beach. In that game, Curry dropped 36 points and dished out 12 assists to guide Golden State to a 123-114 win. The Warriors are 4-1 ATS in their last five games against Miami.
Portland Trail Blazers vs. LA Clippers (10:30 PM ET)
Though there is no reason for Portland fans to be in panic mode, the team’s recent struggles have definitely turned some heads. The team has only won once in their last six against teams over .500, and they’ll need to do better than that if they hope to make a run in the stacked Western Conference.
Still, Portland remains a team to reckon with and could restore some measure of order when they head to Los Angeles for a showdown against the Clippers. The Blazers beat the Clippers in their first encounter, 116-112, with LaMarcus Aldridge anchoring Portland’s attack with 32 points and 10 rebounds. Over his last 10 games, Aldridge has averaged 24.1 PPG and 11.7 RPG.
The Blazers are 3-0 ATS in their last three games overall.
The return of Chris Paul had the Clippers feeling excited and it showed when they almost wiped the Sixers off the face of the NBA with a soul-crushing 123-78 win last Sunday.
In 23 minutes of action, Paul registered seven points and eight assists, while Blake Griffin threw down one vicious dunk after another on his way to 26 points and 11 rebounds. Few games have looked more fun for the Clippers.
Tonight expect a more focused Clippers team as they host Portland. The Clippers (106.7 PPG) are No. 2 in the NBA in scoring but Portland is even better, averaging 108.0 PPG. However, in the last 10 games, the Clippers have maintained a 112.4 PPG pace as compared to the visibly troubled Trail Blazers who managed 101.1 PPG over the same stretch.
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