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doubled1511
FoxDen Hall of Famer
Registered: Sep 2011
Posts: 3891
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Bruce Marshall
Miami vs. Minnesota
Pick: Minnesota
Potential flat spot for Miami? Maybe so, considering Sunday’s revenge-fueled encounter vs. Knicks and fact that Heat, despite a 14-game SU win streak, have been prone to letdowns in the last eight days, as evidenced by narrow escapes and non-covers vs. sub-.500 Cavs and Kings. If Miami doesn’t bring its “A” game, can Minnesota capitalize? Maybe so, as T-wolves were at least within sight of Heat at AA Arena on Dec. 16, despite getting little help from then-healthy F Kevin Love (who scored only 11). Love is still sidelined, of course, but Rick Adelman at least has regained services of 6-9 Andrei Kirilenko, who scored 22 in first meeting, and remember that T-wolves had yet to welcome back G Ricky Rubio from his knee injury rehab when teams met before Christmas. And Miami no automatic play as DD chalk this season (7-11 vs. number).
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03-04-13 06:23 PM |
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doubled1511
FoxDen Hall of Famer
Registered: Sep 2011
Posts: 3891
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David Banks
Miami / Minnesota Over 196
The Miami Heat (43-14, 30-27 ATS) overcame a 16-point deficit to beat the Knicks Sunday and make it 14 wins in a row, and they look to make it 15 vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves (20-36, 34-25 ATS) at the Target Center in Minnesota Monday at 9:05 ET on NBA TV. LeBron James filled out the stat sheet as usual vs. the Knicks with 29 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and one blocked shot, helping Miami avenge two earlier losses to New York. Minnesota is coming off of a 109-94 loss at Portland on Saturday, and this team has simply been undermanned since Kevin Love re-fractured his hand back on January 3rd. The shaky Minnesota defense makes the Timberwolves unlikely candidates to slow down the Miami Express.
The Miami 14-game winning steak began when James began his historic streak where he became the first player in NBA history to score at least 30 points and shoot at least 60 percent from the field in six straight games, and over the entire 14-game streak, James is averaging 28.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 8.3 assists. James is now shooting an impressive 56.3 percent over the entire season, helping propel the Heat to a league leading 49.6 percent shooting percentage as a team overall. Miami also ranks second the three-point shooting at 39.3 percent and the end result has been a fifth best 103.7 points per game. Now the Heat have not cared much about the regular season since James arrived two seasons ago, as they are in fact only 101-103-1 ATS since then during the regular year. They have successfully flipped the switch when it mattered most once the playoffs began in both seasons, but this is now the best regular season stretch for Miami since LeBron came to South Beach, and the Heat now find themselves tied in the loss column with the team with the best record in the NBA in the 46-14 San Antonio Spurs, pending the Spurs' result Sunday night.
The Timberwolves have had trouble competing without Love, going 5-21 straight up since he went down, and things have gotten worse as of late with Minnesota winning only twice in the last 11 games, and those two wins coming vs. a Philadelphia team that cannot score and a Cleveland team that cannot play defense. The Timberwolves have shown nothing to indicate that they can hang with a team of Miami's caliber, especially on the defensive end. For the entire season, Minnesota is ranked 16th in points against at 97.9 per game, 23rd in field goal percentage allowed and 20th in three-point defense. The defense has gotten considerably worse in the 26 games since Love went down though, allowing 100.4 points per game in that time, and it is allowing a disgusting 107.2 points per game on a bloated 49.1 percent shooting over the last five contests. All the Wolves have to do now is contain the best shooting team in the league with the hottest player on the planet.
The Timberwolves are 0-7-1 ATS in their last eight games vs. teams with a winning percentage above .600, and Minnesota is 7-16-2 ATS in its last 25 games overall. The Heat are on an 8-3 ATS run overall and Miami is 10-3 ATS in its last 13 games vs. the Northwest Division.
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03-04-13 06:24 PM |
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