Heat vs. Hornets prediction and odds for Saturday, February 25

Both the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets were in action last night, so they’re on the second night of a back-to-back. Miami was up in Milwaukee and got beat, 128-99 by the Bucks who got just six minutes from Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Heat are now 32-28 which is good enough for seventh place in the East. It was actually the 18-43 Hornets who got a win last night. LaMelo Ball finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists up in Minnesota as he outdueled Anthony Edwards for a 121-113 victory.

Let’s take a look at the odds for this Eastern Conference matchup in Charlotte.

Heat vs. Hornets odds, spread and total

Heat vs. Hornets prediction and pick

Miami’s big addition was Kevin Love. They signed him in the buyout market to fill a role in their front court and provide some three-point shooting because they are 28th in three-point percentage despite taking the ninth most shots from behind the arc. Love went 0-4 from the field, all threes and finished with zero points and eight rebounds in the bad loss. There might have been a reason that he couldn’t find minutes in Cleveland and the Cavs let him walk.

Miami is second in opponent points per game, but they struggled on the defensive end in their first game out of the break as well. The Bucks shot 41.3% from three, 48% from the field and were outrebounded by 12. Love didn’t give them what they needed against the Bucks even without Giannis on the floor for the majority of the game, but I think he can help give them a more functional offense against teams like Charlotte.

If Miami can shoot it better and LaMelo stays hot after a great performance last night, I like the over with these teams on zero days rest. The over is 8-1 in Miami’s last nine games against a team with a losing record.