Washington Wizards vs. Miami Heat Preview and Pick – Point Spread

Washington Wizards (4-9 3-10 ATS) vs. Miami Heat (9-5 7-7 ATS) American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL 7 PM EST Friday, November 27, 2009 on ESPN
by Jason Green at Predictem.com

Point Spread: Washington +7/Miami -7
Over/Under: 198.5

Tonight in the Sunshine State the Miami Heat host the Washington Wizards. Even though the Wizards are coming off a win they are only 2-8 in their last 10 games and they are in last place in the Southeast Division. The Heat have won 2 in a row, including an impressive win over the Orlando Magic, and are in 3rd place in the Southeast Division trailing the Magic by 2 games.

This season the Heat are 6-2 at home and the Wizards are only 1-6 in away games.

The Wizards were thought to challenge for a playoff spot and while they are currently 5 games under .500 they recently got Antawn Jamison back from a shoulder injury after missing the few weeks of the season. Tonight the Heat look to win their 4th straight home win over the Wizards.

In their last game on Tuesday night the Wizards beat the Philadelphia 76ers 108-107. The high scorer for the Wizards in that game was Antawn Jamison going for 32 points on 13/23 shooting and he also grabbed 14 boards. For the game the Wizards shot 44/93 for a FG% of 47.3%. On defense the Wizards allowed the 76ers to shoot 38/94 from the floor for a FG% of 40.4%.

The Heat beat the Magic in their last game 99-98 on Wednesday night. The high scorer for the Heat in that game was Dwyane Wade going for 24 points even though he only shot 6/22 from the field. For the game the Heat did not shoot well only going 33/85 from the floor for a FG% of 38.8%. On defense the Heat allowed the Magic to shoot 32/77 for a FG% of 41.6%.

This season neither team is lighting up the scoreboard, as the Heat rank 21st (96.9 ppg) and the Wizards rank 23rd (96.6 ppg). The Heat are legit on defense ranking a respectable 9th in points allowed (95.4 ppg) while the Wizards only rank 20th (101.6 ppg). Miami has a rebounding differential of +1.4 rpg and Washington is dead even on the boards at 0.0 rpg.

The Wizards are having problems scoring this season and 3rd leading scorer Caron Butler (16.8 ppg) may miss this game due to an injury.

Sharpshooter Mike Miller is Out for this game and the Wizards have to hit the outside J so the Heat do not pack the lane on D.

Gilbert Arenas (22.1 ppg) and Antawn Jamison (25 ppg) are both legit scorers and they will have to provide much of the offense tonight, especially if Butler can’t go.

The Wizards do not have a lot of size and they will have to hit the boards as a team tonight and not allow the Heat to dominate the glass, especially on the offensive end. They have to body up on 6th man Udonis Haslem (9.3 rpg) and Jermaine O’Neal (7.9 rpg).

Wizards’ C Brendan Haywood (10.5 ppg 10.8 ppg) has to have a good game and be a solid inside presence on both sides of the court.

The Wizards have to play good D on Dwayne Wade, who leads the Heat in scoring (27.8 ppg), assists (5.3 per game), steals (2.1 per game), and blocks (1.3 per game). Wade has to have a better shooting night then he did in his last game only going 6/22 from the field.

The Heat are a slashing team and the Wizards have to keep them from penetrating into the lane and they have to force them to settle for outside shots.

If Wade and Michael Beasley (14.3 ppg) are allowed to get to the rim and get deep into the lane the Wizards will be in trouble.

On the injury front SF Caron Butler is day to day and SG Mike Miller is Out for the Wizards and SG Quentin Richardson, C Jermaine O’Neal, and PG Mario Chalmers are all day to day for the Heat.

Jason’s Pick: The Wizards do have Jamison back and Arenas is finally healthy, but they have other key players banged up. The Heat may come into this game with a ton of confidence after beating the Magic in their last game. Look for Wade to have a better shooting game then he did in his last game and for the Heat to take advantage of the weak defense of the Wizards. Take the Heat to win this game.