Filip Tomic
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It’s a big game tonight at Madison Square Garden as the Miami Heat come to town to face off with the New York Knicks. The #1 spot in Group B of the In-Season Tournament is still up for grabs, so it promises to be an exciting affair between evenly matched teams. Tip-off is at 7:30 pm ET on ESPN, and I’ve prepared a Same Game Parlay which is available below.
Visit our NBA predictions for our picks on Friday’s 10-game slate. Let’s dive into my bet!
Heat ML (+198)
Julius Randle to record 8+ rebounds (-220)
RJ Barrett to record 2+ assists (-280)
Same Game Parlay odds: +521
Heat ML (+198)
At 2-0 the Heat still have a chance to advance from Group B of the In-Season Tournament, however they are 2nd in the group on points differential behind Milwaukee. Bam Adebayo didn’t play against the Cavs in their last game, but it didn’t seem to effect them too much as they won by 23 points. This Miami team has gone 4-2 ATS/SU in the last 6 meetings with the Knicks, and they’re 6-1 in their last 7 games overall.
New York returns home from a 5-game road trip which ended with a 17-point loss at Minnesota. Miami has the momentum after 9 wins in 10 games and the Knicks could be a little sluggish to start as they coming home after a 5-game road trip. With a healthy Adebayo and Duncan Robinson I think the Heat could pull off an upset.
Julius Randle to record 8+ rebounds (-220)
The game between the Knicks and Heat is expected to be a defensive battle and only 2 of the last 20 meetings at Madison Square Garden have surpassed tonight’s projected total of 212.5 points. With that in mind, I think we’ll see a lot of defensive stats go up, so targeting Julius Randle could be a good approach.
He is the team’s 2nd-leading rebounder behind Mitchell Robinson, averaging 10 per game. He has averaged 10.2 boards per game in the last 5 meetings with Miami, clearing this line 3 times. The Knicks lead the NBA with the most rebounds per game at 58.1 and Randle is one of the big reasons why. It will be a battle down low between him and Adebayo, so hopefully he can continue his solid run.
Check out today’s NBA mega parlay
RJ Barrett to record 2+ assists (-280)
Although he isn’t known for his playmaking skills, RJ Barrett has upped his averages when it comes to distribution quite a lot in the last 2 months. After averaging 2.5 dimes per game in October, he is at 3.2 per game in November, which is a lot for a shoot-first player like him. He has cleared this line 7 times in 9 games this season, so getting to 2 assists shouldn’t be too difficult for him.
He’s averaging 2.8 assists per game in the last 10 meetings against Miami, and he has failed to clear this line just 3 times during that stretch. The Heat aren’t exactly known for stopping the opposing team’s ball movement – they rank just 16th in opponent assists per game, giving up 25.9 per contest. It’s time for Barrett to put his point-guard hat on in this one to dish out 2 assists to land our bet.
