Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers Free NBA Basketball Picks

With a chance to sweep their three-games in three-nights road trip, the (22-7) Miami Heat [-3] head to Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, the site for a matchup with the struggling (17-10) Indiana Pacers [+3]. This Free NBA Basketball Picks game is scheduled to tipoff tonight at 7 PM ET and it’ll be broadcasted live on NBA TV.

Miami is off to one of its best starts in franchise history, trailing Chicago by ½ game for the best record in the league. Winners of three straight, the Heat is 10-5 on the road and a sizzling 8-2 in the last 10 games played. Last night, Miami took on the only team to beat them twice this season, the Milwaukee Bucks.

Listed as betting odds favorites by 6 points, Miami went into the Bucks house and took care of business in rather effortless fashion, 114-96. The NBA’s second leading scorer, LeBron James led the way for the Heat with 35 points (16-for-21 shooting), 8 rebounds and a steal. Dwyane Wade followed suit, pitching in with 22 points on (8-for-14 shooting) 5 boards and dished out 4 dimes.

“At the start of the game we lost the first three or four skirmishes (for loose balls) but from that point on we really made a commitment to get into this fight,” said heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. “No one could spectate. We had to get our hands dirty, which we didn’t do in the first two games. But it was a good sign that we did it this way against a very physical team.”

For the Pacers, a three-game skid has put this team 4½ behind the division-leading Bulls, despite Chicago’s recent struggles and injury woes. Led by Danny Granger’s 19 points per game, the Pacers are a team that live and die as a unit, unlike Miami who relies heavily on their “Big Three”.

With six layers averaging in double-digits in points, Indiana is a much-improved team with plenty of room to grow. This will certainly be a test of how far they’ve come, as the last time these teams met, Miami prevailed in what became a laugher that quickly span out of control. When it was all said and done, the Pacers found themselves on the losing end of an 83-118 pounding in South Florida.

“(We have to) focus on the task at hand. That’s the only approach you can have to get back on the winning track,” said Pacers head coach Frank Vogel. “You have won game to win and that’s the only thing that matters. Nothing in the past matters, nothing in the future matters. We’ve got to just focus on the task at hand and try to get a W.”

As you can see by the aforementioned point-spread for this game, oddsmakers expect this to be a closer contest than most people would assume. Considering Miami will be playing the third game of a back-to-back-to-back, I’m also inclined to believe the Pacers will have a fighting chance to pull off the upset tonight.

This game has all the makings of a trap-game for Miami and thus, things may come down to the final possession of the game. In either case, and under the premise that things will stay close throughout, I like the Packers with a three-point cushion in this one!

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