NBA Free Premium Play 04/05: Miami Heat @ Charlotte Bobcats

Miami  at Charlotte

NBA - 501 Miami Heat @ 502 Charlotte Bobcats Projected Line: Miami by 1 point Miami will play their third game in a row without Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, but this will be the first game where their opponents won't overlook the shorthanded Heat tonight. This was super evident with the Spurs and even on their game against the Knicks, the NY team showed no intensity during the first half. As soon as the Knicks stepped it up a bit in the second half, they outscored Miami by 20 points. Looking at the probable starting lineups for tonight, Chris Bosh has an evident edge over the Bobcats's frontcourt, but how will the ball get to Bosh? Not very effectively. Miami's ball movement is struggling right now and with the lack of floor spacing, even Bosh has to go to spots where he isn't used to play. This is why Miami has only scored 18 and 36 points in the paint on their last two games. On the other side, Charlotte is playing better as of late. They are showing good effort, their coach refuses to tank and he is playing Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson 40 minutes a night! If these two backcourt players have decent performances, then the Bobcats can be competitive in their games. Looking at Miami's backcourt for tonight, with Mario Chalmers banged up, Norris Cole being a defensive mess and Mike Miller/James Jones being two of the worst defensive players in the league, I expect Kemba and Henderson to have big games tonight on their dribble penetrations. I took Miami -17 on the last game between these two teams, but in much different circumstances. Charlotte was dead tired at the time on a back to back spot and they had a physical letdown after playing a very tough game against Detroit on the previous day. Then, Lebron James played 34 minutes and had 11-14 FG, 10-11 FT, 32 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks! Things will be much different tonight. Charlotte has a good spot, they had a decent matchup against this super shorthanded version of the Heat and even though Miami may still win down the stretch, we have a line that protects us from a late choke of the Bobcats. Therefore, I'll be taking Charlotte in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 502 Charlotte Bobcats (+4) @ -110 / 1.91 on 5Dimes