Heat vs Warriors Odds, Spread and Picks

• The Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat matchup on January 3rd
• It’s the second night of a back-to-back for Miami following a narrow loss to Sacramento on Sunday
• Read below for the latest Warriors vs Heat odds, betting preview and a pick

The Golden State Warriors host the Miami Heat at Chase Center on January 3rd, 2021. Miami is coming off a Sunday night loss to the Sacramento Kings, while the Warriors beat the Utah Jazz on Saturday despite Draymond Green missing the game through health and safety protocols.

Miami is 8.5-point dogs for this encounter. Erik Spoelstra is without a large portion of his rotation, and Golden State is playing great basketball of late even with key men absent.

They have clocked wins over Memphis, Phoenix and Utah over the last couple of weeks to maintain their league-best record.

Warriors vs Heat Odds

Odds as of Jan 3rd at FanDuel

Injury News

Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro and Jimmy Butler played for Miami on Sunday. It was a makeshift roster around them, however, and the Heat could be careful with Butler and Lowry’s minutes on the second night of a back-to-back.

December 30th saw Marcus Garrett and Duncan Robinson join Gabe Vincent, P.J. Tucker, Max Strus, and Udonis Haslem in health and safety protocols. Markieff Morris (neck) remains out following his clash with Nikola Jokic, and this game comes too soon for Dewayne Dedmon, who is dealing with an MCL injury. Bam Adebayo and Victor Oladipo aren’t close to returning.

Draymond Green and Damion Lee have both cleared protocols and aren’t listed on the injury report tomorrow against the Heat. Warriors (minus Klay/Wiseman) have their full rotation back.

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 3, 2022

Golden State welcomes back Draymond Green after the Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner cleared health and safety protocols on Sunday. Klay Thompson and James Wiseman are the only names on the injury report, with Damion Lee in line to play his first game since December, 20th.

Miami’s Talent Disadvantage

Miami has got some good performances from depth pieces of late, but their roster is stretched to an unmanageable level right now. Omer Yurtseven was top scorer on Sunday. Nik Stauskas has made his first two NBA appearances since April 2019. Haywood Highsmith has featured for the Heat in the last two, having only previously racked up 40 NBA minutes for the Sixers in 2018-19.

Sac-Mia was fun but I'm glad the Kings won, because the Kangzineas of losing at home to Nik Stauskas and Kyle Guy might have been too much even for them.

Also, will be fun to see Omer Yurtseven vs. Damian Jones when they next meet as the starting centers in the All-Star game.

— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) January 3, 2022

Spoelstra still has the top-end talent in Butler, Lowry and Herro to put up a fight on Monday night, but the Heat are at an enormous talent disadvantage. Golden State has all of this season’s rotation available, and hasn’t even missed a step through Covid absences with Otto Porter, Gary Payton II, Kevon Looney, and Jonathan Kuminga putting in some big performances.

Steph Curry breaks *checks notes* Steph Curry's record 💦 pic.twitter.com/fV1qgc9cW7

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 2, 2022

The Heat have defenders to throw at Steph Curry in Butler, Caleb Martin, and Kyle Lowry. That’s no guarantee of beating or even staying competitive with these Warriors, though. The Dubs are 10-4 when Curry scores 24 or fewer – they have sufficient shooting and scoring around Curry to still put up points even against a Heat defense that remains among the best in the league.

Back the Warriors

Only the Cavs have a better overall ATS record than Golden State this season. They are 13-5-1 ATS at home in 2021-22, and they are 7-3-1 with a rest advantage as they have here. Miami is in the midst of a brutal road trip, it’s the second night of a back-to-back, and a third game in four days.

Steve Kerr: “The win tonight and the one in Phoenix speak to our depth… We got a deep, deep group.” 👏

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) January 2, 2022

The Heat are just 2-3 on the second night of back to backs this season. When fatigue is a factor, their lack of depth proves to be more of a problem, and it’s even more challenging when they are leaning a 35-year-old Kyle Lowry to play huge minutes against an energy-draining Warriors offense.

Golden State has only lost three times at home this season. Of all those wins, only one was by eight or fewer points. Take the Dubs to cover here.

Pick: Warriors -8.5 (-110)