Portland Trail Blazers vs Miami Heat Prediction & Picks - NBA

Prediction published on 3/29/24, 8:27 AM  by Bill Christy | Modified on 3/29/24 at 8:27 AM in NBA Picks

The Blazers take their 8-game losing streak into Miami Friday night and find themselves a familiar double-digit underdog. They will be without leading scorer Anfernee Simons who is out with a knee injury. Injuries have plagued the Blazers all season so this is nothing new. Dalano Banton will look to continue to make the most of his increased playing time. Banton is averaging 22.5 points per game over his last 4 games. He along with rookie, Scoot Henderson will need to be the bulk of the scoring in this meeting with the Heat. They lost 106-96 in their last meeting back in late February. In that meeting, the Heat were able to shoot almost 54% from long range. That will not be simple to replicate for the Heat, especially with Duncan Robinson being questionable. Miami is coming off a 113-92 loss to Golden State. They played that game without the services of Jimmy Butler who is now probable for this game with the Blazers. They will need him to play at a high level to cover this large spread.