Washington Wizards vs. Miami Heat Prediction: Can Bam Adebayo Dominate Against Wizards?
The Miami Heat are set to take on the Washington Wizards on Sunday night. Can Bam Adebayo make an impact down low for the Heat? Ben Rajavuori provides his top prop pick in Wizards vs. Heat.
Ben Rajavuori - March 10, 2024, 1:58 PM EDT
5 minWashington Wizards vs. Miami Heat Prediction: Can Bam Adebayo Dominate Against Wizards?
The Washington Wizards travel to Miami tonight to take on the Heat from Kaseya Center at 6:00 PM ET. The Wizards broke a lengthy losing streak on Friday as they beat the Hornets at home 112–100. That win improved them to 10–53 on the season. The Heat are coming off back-to-back losses to the Mavericks and Thunder to drop their record to 35–28 on the season and sixth in the Eastern Conference. The Heat are 11-point favorites tonight to take care of business at home. What should we expect in this game?
Wizards vs. Heat DATE, TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH
- Date: March 10, 2024
- Game Time: 6:00 pm ET
- Where to Watch: NBA League Pass
Washington Wizards vs. Miami Heat Prediction
The player I am targeting in this game is Heat center Bam Adebayo. Adebayo is averaging 19.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 4 assists per game on the season. Adebayo has had a slow start to March, and is coming off very poor back-to-back outings. On Thursday against the Mavericks, Bam Adebayo had just 14 points on 5–14 shooting. As the third leading score on the Heat this season, it was a slow outing for Adebayo, and even more frustrating because the Heat narrowly lost that game. He followed that up with an even performance on Friday the following day, shooting just 1-9 and finishing with five points. That was an even more frustrating game for Adebayo, and again, the Heat narrowly lost by seven to the top team in the Western Conference. Tonight, Adebayo has a very advantageous matchup against this Wizards' defense. The Wizards' defense has been the worst in the NBA all season, ranking last in points allowed per game and last in defensive rating overall. A large part of that poor defense is struggling to defend big men. The Wizards allow the most points in the NBA to opposing centers and also give up the most rebounds to opposing centers. The Wizards give up the most rebounds as a team per game, and have consistently struggled to defend the paint. Adebayo's points plus rebounds line is 32.5 tonight. While this seems like a high line for him, it is easily doable against the Wizards. Bam had 34 points plus rebounds back on February 2nd against the Wizards. This is a matchup that he can easily exploit, despite only having 22 back on November 3rd against them. But we know that Bam can expose this defense, as last year he had a game with 50 combined points plus rebounds against them. Given that Bam is coming off back-to-back horrible games in frustrating losses, I expect him to come out with a fire in this game tonight, play hard, and look to bounce back. Kevin Love is also out for this game, which should open up some more minutes/opportunities for Bam as well. While there is some blowout potential in this game which could cut into Bam's minutes, both the games against the Wizards this season have been surprisingly competitive, so Bam should see a full mid-30s in minutes tonight.
Washington Wizards vs. Miami Heat Pick
Pick: Bam Adebayo Over 32.5 Points + Rebounds (-110) Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
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