The Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder meet in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Can the Thunder live to see another day, or will the Heat take the title? Check out our NBA picks and the live odds for this game.
The Heat are just one game away from the trophy. Will they
finish it off at home as favorites?
Another wild game on Tuesday, but again Miami persevered to
take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
For Game 5, the spread betting line has stayed the same,
with the Heat favored by 3.5 points at most of the sportsbooks.
The total has been altered though as 193 can be found if you
shop around. The OVER easily hit (191) in Game 4's 104-98 victory and we can
expect that Game 5 number to keep rising as tipoff approaches.
It was another wasted opportunity for the Thunder, who were
up by 17 early on and had their chances to really make this series interesting.
Instead, they're one game away from a second-place finish.
You can't really blame Russell Westbrook, though. The
under-fire guard had a career night, torching the Heat for 43 points on
20-of-32 shooting and adding seven rebounds and five assists. Miami had no
answer for him whatsoever.
Kevin Durant threw in 28 points of his own, but the rest of
the OKC crew were practically useless. No other player scored in double
figures, most notably James Harden, who contributed another stinkbomb (eight
points on 2-of-10 shooting) in the loss.
Title within reach
As for the victors, four different members of the Heat
scored at least 10 points and three had 25+.
Of the three, the most surprising effort came from Mario
Chalmers, who scored 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He also had one of the
game's biggest plays late in the fourth when he drove to the basket for a nice
reverse layup.
Dwyane Wade had 25 points, five boards and three assists and
LeBron James, battling through bad cramps, was one board away from a
triple-double. He ended the night with a fantastic 26-12-9 line in the Game 4
victory.
LeBron is now one win away from his first NBA championship.
He's so close he can taste it, and the way he's been playing no one can doubt
his ability to be clutch any longer. LeBron has stepped up when it's mattered
most and carried this team on his back throughout the whole regular season and
postseason.
Enduring intense pain late in Tuesday's game, LeBron stepped
back on to the court with just under three minutes to go and nailed a pullup
three to put the Heat into the lead. It was arguably the most important shot of
the game given the circumstances.
Will he have enough in the tank to finish off the job in
front of the Miami fans?
Well, the Thunder most definitely have their backs against
the wall, and it's always difficult to side against a team fighting for its
life. A win on Thursday means a return to Oklahoma City, where they've lost
just one time in these playoffs.
Down, but not out
But, the Thunder have squandered a few golden opportunities
to re-gain homecourt advantage. Could it be too late now? Does Oklahoma City
have anything left?
Sure they do. This is a prideful bunch and the Thunder are
going to give the Heat one hell of a fight yet again in Game 5.
That said, these spreads have been tight all series long. A
few bounces here and there and it's OKC that would have covered most of these
lines, not Miami.
So, we'll go with the OVER again in Game 5. Both teams
showcased their offensive abilities on Tuesday, each hitting at a 48.0 percent
clip overall.
The long ball was employed frequently as well, with the Heat
hitting 10-of-26 from the 3-point line and the Thunder managing only 3-of-16.
There were a lot of good looks for James Harden and Thabo Sefolosha that they
missed and we think the role players make more of an impact on Thursday.
The OVER has hit in six of Oklahoma City's previous eight
road matchups and in four of Miami's last five home contests. We're adding the
OVER to our NBA picks for Game 5.
FREE Pick: OVER 193
TREND BREAKDOWN
Thunder are 11-5-1 ATS in their last 17 games overall
Thunder are 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 games as underdogs of
0.5-4.5
Heat are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall
Heat are 10-3 ATS in their last 13 home games
OVER is 4-1 in Miami's last 5 home games
OVER is 6-2 in Oklahoma City's last 8 road games
Home team is 5-1 ATS in the
last 6 head-to-head meetings