At 8 p.m. EST on Friday, the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat face off in an Eastern Conference battle. While the injury report remains extensive for both sides, there’s still plenty of betting value here for those who know where to look. Let’s dive right on in.
Here’s a Hornets vs. Heat prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Friday night’s game.
Hornets vs. Heat prediction, preview
First thing first, let’s get the injury report out of the way. On the Hornets’ side, LaMelo Ball (ankle) and Collin Sexton (neck) are both doubtful for this one while Brandon Miller (shoulder), Josh Green (shoulder) and Grant Williams (knee) are all out. For the Heat, Bam Adebayo (toe) won’t play after suffering his own injury on Wednesday while Tyler Herro (out) also remains sidelined. There’s a noticeable lack of star power here, but at the end of the day, someone must step up for both squads.
For the Hornets, Miles Bridges leads available players with 21.5 PPG and surely gets plenty of shot volume tonight. However, rookie Kon Knueppel averages 14.8 PPG with 5.8 rebounds to start his NBA career while shooting an impressive 41% from three-point range. He and fellow rookie, center Ryan Kalkbrenner (9.1 PPG, 7.1 REB) should see opportunities to make an impact along with Tre Mann, who hasn’t played well this season but remains one of the league’s more underrated scorers. The Hornets are eighth in scoring and sixth in pace, so expect high volume on their side in this one.
For the Heat, offseason acquisition Norm Powell is on fire with a career-best 23.2 PPG while shooting 51.7% from three in a lead role. Alongside him are defensive-minded guard Davion Mitchell, who doesn’t light up the scoring column but averages 7.9 assists a night, as well as forward Andrew Wiggins, who’s posting 17.0 PPG with his most efficient shooting splits in years. Second-year big man Kel’el Ware will start at center in Adebayo’s absence and has shown capable of some monster nights when given the chance, while Jaime Jaquez Jr. brings 17.4 PPG and 6.3 boards with 4.3 assists off the bench. The Hornets aren’t the only team that plays with energy, either — Miami ranks fourth in scoring and first in pace. Shocking, right?
Hornets vs. Heat pick, best bet
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Heat enter as -7.5 favorites with -250 odds to win on the Moneyline. The Hornets come in at +205 underdogs to win outright with a game total of 235.5 points.
Even without the stars in each team’s respective lineups, one can expect plenty of points in this contest. As mentioned in the above section, both sides rank at or near the top of the NBA in both overall pace and scoring. While a few fewer shots may fall without Ball, Miller, Adebayo and Herro, there’s no shortage of possessions to go around. Plus, Adebayo’s absence does leave Miami without its best and most versatile defensive presence, boosting the outlook when attacking the paint in particular. The Heat come in at 15th in opponent scoring with 117.6 PPG allowed, which should tick upward here, while the Hornets are 25th with 120.4.
Does all this info set up the over to cash? That’s a very possible outcome, and given the lack of truly reliable options leading both offenses, this could become a bit of a messy affair. Expect both sides to push the pace tonight, especially in transition, as they seek to make up for the star power in the halfcourt offense. While maybe not the highest-quality game on the slate, this still looks like a perfectly bet-worthy contest to kick off the weekend.
