The Miami Heat will be hoping to avoid a third loss in four games when they head to the STAPLES Center for a meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers.
LeBron James is out with an ankle injury, but there will still be a lot of firepower on the floor tonight.
NBA betting odds have the Heat favored by 4.5 points, but Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook aren’t going to go down without a fight. Keep reading our Heat vs. Lakers picks and predictions to find out if they can help LA hang around at home.
Heat vs Lakers odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
As with any Lakers game, it’s absolutely crucial you pay attention to the injury report as there are a ton of players with questionable tags in this game. With that out of the way, Miami has been a 4.5-point favorite since this game opened and it doesn’t appear to be changing very much. The total also hasn’t moved a lot, with the number going from 214.5 to 214. Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until tip-off and be sure to check out the full NBA odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Heat vs Lakers predictions
Predictions made on 11/10/2021 at 12:14 p.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Heat vs Lakers game info
• Location: STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Date: Wednesday, November 10, 2021
• Tip-off: 10:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN
Heat vs Lakers betting preview
Injuries
Heat: Bam Adebayo C (Questionable), Tyler Herro G (Questionable), Markieff Morris F (Out), P.J. Tucker F (Questionable), Victor Oladipo G (Out).
Lakers: Anthony Davis F (Probable), Austin Reave G (Questionable), Rajon Rondo G (Questionable), LeBron James F (Out), Kendrick Nunn G (Out), Talen Horton-Tucker G (Out), Trevor Ariza F (Out).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Heat are 10-3-1 ATS in their last 14 games as favorites. Find more NBA betting trends for Heat vs. Lakers.
Heat vs Lakers picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Spread analysis
The Lakers are coming off of a solid win over the Charlotte Hornets, as Los Angeles earned a 126-123 overtime victory as a 2-point home favorite. The win stopped a two-game skid, and the Lakers have now won four of their last six and six of their last nine games SU. Any wins the team can pick up with LeBron James will help at the end of the year, but Los Angeles is 3-8 ATS this year — and without LBJ it’s unfair to expect the Lakers to beat the Heat (or even cover) right now.
While Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis will both be out there for Los Angeles, the Heat have to feel good about how they’re going to be able to defend that duo. Miami will likely force Westbrook to take a ton of mid-range jumpers, which is a shot the team would be happy to give up, and the Heat also have the luxury of putting Bam Adebayo on Davis. He has the combination of size, speed, and instincts to give a guy like Davis some trouble, which should ultimately be enough to throw off Los Angeles’ offense.
Offensively, Miami has more pieces to give Los Angeles trouble. The Lakers have had some trouble defending the 3-point line this year, so guys like Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson could have big games in this one — and if those two are spacing the floor, it’ll only make life easier on Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler.
Overall, the Heat are the far better team in this one and they’re not the type of team to turn in back-to-back lousy performances. With that in mind, look for them to bounce back from their 17-point loss to Denver on Monday.
Prediction: Heat -4.5 (-110)
Over/Under analysis
Both of these teams are more than happy to play in grind-it-out games, and with so many key players questionable (meaning even if they play they'll be dinged up), this one should turn into something of an ugly, defensive battle.
The Under has hit in four of the last six games that the Lakers have played in, which isn’t surprising when considering that the Lakers are fourth in defensive rating in that span.
Los Angeles is beginning to play some elite defense, and the team should soon have a Top-10 defensive rating for the season. When considering that Miami is sixth in the league in defensive rating on the year, Under bettors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these teams take that end of the floor seriously.
Prediction: Under 214 (-110)
Best bet
As mentioned earlier, Miami is the better team between these two — even when LeBron is fully healthy — so the Heat have no excuse not to win this one comfortably with one of the greatest players of all-time in street clothes.
The only matchup that favors the Lakers in this game is Davis versus Adebayo, but that’s probably the worst one for Los Angeles to have the edge. Adebayo rarely gets significantly outplayed, as he’s a great player with all the pride in the world — in addition to a relentless motor. He’s not going to let Davis punk him in this game, leaving the Lakers in a somewhat tough position.
Miami also happens to be 9-1 ATS in road games when coming off two or more Unders in a row since the start of last season. On top of that, the Heat are 9-2-1 against the spread when coming off an upset loss by 10 points or more over the last three seasons.
Pick: Heat -4.5 (-110)
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