The Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns have both won 7 of their last ten games coming into Saturday night’s meeting at the Footprint Center. The Heat have had the last two nights off after their win in Portland but are also playing in their fifth straight West Coast road game. The Suns are 17-4 at home and have won each of their contests on the three-game win streak by at least 13 points.
Heat at Suns Betting Analysis
On the Miami side
The Heat have gone 2-2 so far on their West Coast swing, most recently beating Portland 115-108 on Wednesday night. Miami got that win with Jimmy Butler missing the game with an ankle injury and Kyle Lowry drawing an ejection after just 16:08 of court time after picking up two technical fouls.
Miami can match up in this game. Lowry will be even more rested after a short outing and had double-digit assists in five of seven games prior to the Portland visit. Butler (questionable) could also be back, and Omer Yurtseven has become a force on the interior with a double-double in five of the last six and12+ rebounds in 10 straight.
On the Phoenix side
Yurtseven has been a nice surprise for Miami as a rookie, but Phoenix should be getting some bodies back to battle on the interior. Deandre Ayton has been out since Christmas after a positive COVID test, but he, JaVale McGee, and Jae Crowder have all cleared protocols and are active vs. the Heat.
A revamped interior and the same quality play from the backcourt is what makes Phoenix an intriguing play on Saturday night. Chris Paul had his first triple-double of the season on Thursday with 14 points/ 13 rebounds / and ten assists. The Suns tallied a 17-point win over the Clippers despite leading scorer Devin Booker going just 5-22 from the floor and finishing with 11 points.
Heat at Suns Prediction
The Suns are -8.5 favorites on Saturday night, which makes sense considering they are 13 games above .500 at the Footprint Center on the season. Phoenix has picked up three dominating wins in a row, starting with a 133-99 victory in Charlotte and then 123-110 at New Orleans before beating the Clippers 106-89.
The Heat are a much higher caliber team than the Hornets and Pelicans or even the shorthanded Clippers. Butler’s status being uncertain does put a dent in locking in the Heat to at least cover this spread, but Miami still has a lot going for them in this matchup.
Erik Spoelstra has his team playing top-five defense (104.3); they’ve had two nights off and have a lot of talented scorers in Tyler Herro (20.3 ppg) and Max Strus (25) that can pick up the slack even if Butler does sit. Miami should be able to keep this one within the 8.5 points.