Miami Heat vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 06/11/2023, 04:33  by Joseph King | Modified on 06/11/2023 at 05:06 in NBA Predictions

A rematch of the 2020 NBA Finals sees the 2-4 Miami Heat hosting the 3-3 Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. The Heat have not gotten off to the best start as yet again they stumble out of the gates in the new season. After edging out the Pistons 103-102 in their opener, Miami then went on to lose their next four on the bounce. However, the Heat did play quite a tough schedule during that run with meetings against the Celtics, Bucks and Timberwolves away from home and the red-hot Nets in Miami. Jimmy Butler and co. were able to finally put an end to their ugly losing streak with a 121-114 home win over the Wizards on Friday. Miami comes into this matchup against their inter-conference rivals in a good spot. This is the final game of a three game home stand, meaning the Heat players have been in Miami and sleeping in their own beds since October 31st.

The Lakers are coming off a disappointing 120-101 blowout away loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday. While the Magic are a sneakily good team, LA really should have gotten the victory with Orlando missing their defensive anchor in Wendell Carter Jr. The Lakers were dominated on the glass, giving up 19 offensive rebounds and losing the total rebounding battle 51-40. The result was Orlando having 101 total field goal attempts to Los Angeles’ 84. LA’s poor shooting from three meant they failed to stay in the game as they sank just eight from downtown on 30 attempts (26.7%). The defeat snapped a two game winning streak for the Lakers. They had previously pulled off an excellent comeback overtime victory against the Clippers in the prior game. This will be Los Angeles’ second of a four game road trip.