Clippers vs Heat Predictions & Odds (Dec. 8)

• The Clippers and Heat meet on Thursday evening
• This is the tail end of a back-to-back for Los Angeles
• Who’s the best bet? Read on for the odds and Clippers vs Heat prediction

The Los Angeles Clippers (14-12, 7-6 road) continue their road trip in South Beach on Thursday in the tail end of a back-to-back against the slumping Miami Heat (11-14, 8-5 home) at the FTX Arena. The tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM ET on NBA TV. Find the Clippers vs Heat prediction below.

The Clips suffered an ugly loss to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night, blowing a big lead. The Heat meanwhile dropped their second straight contest Tuesday to the lowly Detroit Pistons.

Clippers vs Heat Odds

Odds as of December 7th at FanDuel Sportsbook.

The Heat are 4-point home favorites with moneyline odds of -174. The Clippers come back as +146 betting underdogs.

While Miami did win the last meeting in January, LA was unbeaten in six consecutive games in this matchup prior to that.

Clippers Trying to Finding a Groove

Los Angeles was considered a title contender before the 2022-23 season began, but some unfortunate injury luck has dampened expectations. Kawhi Leonard has missed time due to his knee, while Paul George also dealt with some health issues. That being said, both stars are now healthy and hoping to get the Clippers back on track.

Wednesday was certainly not a step in the right direction, though. They had an 18-point lead in the first half but their 15 turnovers proved to be costly. The Magic went on a 12-1 run in the fourth to tie things up and ultimately forced overtime. Kawhi and PG were both on a minutes restriction and combined for only 25 points on 7-for-27 shooting from the field.

Final from Orlando. pic.twitter.com/R6SAYqVhZy

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) December 8, 2022

On a more positive note, seven different players finished in double-figures. It just simply came down to careless mistakes. Leonard and George are likely to sit out Thursday because of injury management since it’s a back-to-back, but John Wall should return after resting Wednesday.

Heat Are Banged up

Miami is in really bad shape at the moment and that’s pretty much been the case since Opening Night. Sure, the Heat are not playing great basketball by any means, but injuries are undoubtedly taking their toll. Heading into the contest, Jimmy Butler and Dewayne Dedmon is questionable, while Gabe Vincent is out. Several others are listed as probable including Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson.

Tuesday’s loss was basically the story of the campaign for Erik Spoelstra’s squad, falling by 20 points to a rebuilding Detroit team. Butler didn’t play due to injury management and basically, nobody did anything offensively except for Bam Adebayo and Herro. The latter balled out for 34 points, while Bam had 21 and 15 rebounds. The rest of the rotation was atrocious.

The Heat drained a mere 31% of their triples and played very poor defense. The Pistons were getting every shot they wanted, posting a 46% clip from deep. Miami is really struggling to find a groove currently and it won’t get any easier with the Clippers coming to town. If Butler doesn’t suit up again, that will be a tough blow. Adebayo and Bam can’t do it all alone.

Clippers vs Heat Prediction

It’s important to keep an eye on the status of Kawhi and PG. But considering both guys just missed time, it’s highly unlikely LA throws them back out there for the second night in a row. Take the Heat here.

Pick: Heat -4 (-112)