Miami Heat @ Portland Trail Blazers
Current Records: Miami 19-17, Portland 13-24
The Miami Heat’s road trip will continue as they head out to face the Portland Trail Blazers at 10:00 p.m. ET on Saturday at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. The Trail Blazers took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on the Heat, who come in off a win.
The Heat are headed into this one after the oddsmakers set last week’s over/under low at 222.5, but even that wound up being too high. They secured a 97-92 W over the Jazz on Thursday.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead the Heat to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jaime Jaquez Jr., who went 7 for 11 en route to 20 points plus seven assists and seven rebounds. Jaquez Jr. continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last four games he’s played. Duncan Robinson, on the other hand, was considerably less helpful: he went 0-5 from deep.
Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers traveled a rocky road last season, and unfortunately for them the road hasn’t gotten any smoother so far this season. They took a 117-111 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Mavericks. The loss hurts even more since Portland was up 87-75 with 2:04 left in the third.
Miami’s victory bumped their record up to 19-17. As for Portland, their loss dropped their record down to 13-24.
Saturday’s match is shaping up to be a scrappy matchup: The Heat haven’t given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 12.4 turnovers per game (they’re ranked fifth in turnovers per game overall). It’s a different story for the Trail Blazers, though, as they’ve been averaging 15.6. Given the Heat’s sizable advantage in that area, the Trail Blazers will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything came up roses for the Heat against the Trail Blazers when the teams last played back in March of 2024, as the team secured a 142-82 win. In that game, the Heat amassed a halftime lead of 74-40, an impressive feat they’ll look to repeat on Saturday.
Miami is a 3.5-point favorite against Portland, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 3.5-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is 219 points.
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Miami has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Portland.
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