NBA Playoffs: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Miami Heat Game 5 Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat square off in Florida on Tuesday night. The two sides split two games each so far in the series, both protecting their home courts. Philadelphia has Joel Embiid now, who didn’t play in the opening two events in Miami. After his comeback in Games 3 and 4, the Sixers have responded well, beating the rivals twice in a row and creating a swing that could turn the entire series upside down. Of course, the Heat will have their chance to respond.

Preview

Philadelphia 76ers (+130) bounced back in the previous two events, beating the Heat using their own medicine – the defense. In Game 3, Miami scored only 79 points, and in the event after that, the Sixers closed all the players but Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

As a consequence, the Heat made only 20% of their three-point shots and had miserable 33 boards. Meanwhile, the hosts were far more versatile, with James Harden leading the way and several other players having a very good role.

The Beard had 31 points with nine boards and seven assists, while Embiid added 24 with 11 boards. Tyrese Maxey would end the night with 18, Tobias Harris 13, and Danny Green 11.

Since Kyle Lowry’s comeback, Miami Heat (-150) isn’t playing that well. The NBA champion with the Raptors was back on the court in Game 3, and may we add that he failed to meet the expectations in two games in Philly. Everyone believed that the Heat will be even better, but somehow, things went in totally opposite direction.

The veteran point guard had only six points, shooting 3-for-10 from the field and missing all six of his three-point attempts. Jimmy Butler was the best player on the court with 40 buckets and six assists, 13-for-20 from the field. Though, he alone couldn’t compete with the hosts.

The only one who followed him was Bam Adebayo with 21 buckets and six assists, though, in the moments when the game was on the line, Butler created all the action. Victor Oladipo scored 15 points, while Tyler Hero scored 11 and caught 10 boards. Them two were 2-for-10 for three, while the entire Heat team made seven threes in 35 tries.

Head to Head Games

The Heat was better in Miami in both events. The first one ended 106-92 for Spoelstra’s unit, and the second one was even more confident, 119-103. But after coming to Philly, the tables turned, and the Sixers didn’t have any problems beating the opponents, 99-79 in Game 3 and 116-108 in Game 4.

Prediction

Embiid will have a very ferocious welcome in Miami, and we are very curious to see how he adapts to the Heat’s defense and what will be the officiating criteria in this event. Nevertheless, the line for the over/under points is at 210, and for us, the best pick here is to bet on under. Miami wins its games with hard defense, and they are usually very nasty at home with the home crowd behind them. Even though we think that the Heat is closer to winning this event, our pick would be under points.

Pick: Under 210 points