NBA Premium Play 11/02: Miami Heat @ New York Knicks

NBA - 717 Miami Heat @ 718 New York Knicks

Projected Line: 195 points | Miami by 9 points

Miami is the best team in the league and they come to this game rested after a great game against Boston on the opening night. They have now a big ESPN game in NY against the Knicks in the MSG. Miami will be once again fully motivated and ready to make another statement game. When that happens, few teams have chances to stay competitive against them and the Knicks aren't certainly one of them.

The Knicks have been dealing with a lot of injuries on the preseason, something that has made coach Mike Woodson's job quite tough in handling the team's rotations. Amare Stoudemire is out for tonight's game and also Tyson Chandler, Marcus Camby and J.R. Smith had physical issues and didn't play some preseason games because of that. Plus there's the fact that the Knicks should have played last night in Brooklyn, but the postponement of that game only raised their levels of rustiness for tonight's game.

The main problem for the Knicks in here is really the matchup. Carmelo Anthony will play at the PF position, in an attempt to imitate Lebron James' role in Miami. However, there is no possible combination between these two players and the teams' system. The Knicks bench is old with Jason Kidd, Pablo Prigioni, Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas, so the difference of speed in comparison with Miami will be huge and this will make the difference in some moments of the game where Miami will certainly have some impressive runs.

We have the best team in the league on a good spot to make a statement against a team with physical issues and without enough chemistry to stay competitive against Miami on the early season. Therefore, I expect an easy win for Miami tonight and I'll take them in here.

My totals projection for this game is 195 points and the totals line was indeed in that line before, but the public jumped all over Miami, after watching them scoring 120 points against Boston. The problem is that the Knicks will surprise the league this season by playing in a really slow pace, as that coach Mike Woodson's system. The Knicks were the second slowest team in the league during the preseason and they were dead last in fast break points with just 5.5 points per game. They are also the oldest team in the league and so, no way they will run with Miami. The totals line is now too high and so, I'll be taking the Under in here as well.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 717/718 Under 198.5 @ -110 / 1.91 on 5Dimes

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 717 Miami Heat (-5.5) @ -110 / 1.91 on 5Dimes