Miami Heat vs Portland Trail Blazers prediction and combined starting 5 - April 11th, 2021 | NBA Season 2020-21
The Miami Heat, sixth in the East, will visit the Portland Trail Blazers' Moda center on Sunday to start a four-game road trip in the West. The matchup between the sixth seed in each conference of the 2020-21 NBA should be highly competitive.
Both teams will look for higher seeding in their respective conferences, as both are sitting in the last place for direct entry into the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
This game will be the second meeting between the Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers this season.
In their previous duel last month, the Portland Trail Blazers took a 125-122 win over the Miami Heat, thanks to 35 points from CJ McCollum. However, Erik Spoelstra's Heat played that game without five-time All-Star Jimmy Butler.
Miami Heat vs Portland Trail Blazers prediction
The Miami Heat have been inconsistent this campaign. But most of their poor results have come because of injuries or long-term absence of key players. They have a 27-25 record on the season and fighting to reach a top-5 place in the Eastern Conference.
Spoelstra's team have gone 5-5 in their last ten games and are coming off a 110-104 win again the shorthanded LA Lakers. The Miami Heat have struggled in offense,ranking 26th in the league in Offensive Rating (109). In defense, they have fared better, allowing 109.8 points per 100 possessions (sixth-best in the NBA).
Meanwhile, the 31-21 Portland Trail Blazers have excelled in offense, scoring 116.7 points per 100 possessions (fifth-best in the league). But the Trail Blazers have been deficient in defense. They have allowed 117 points per 100 possessions, which is second-worst in the entire league and is the worst among all teams in postseason places.
The Miami Heat will start off as the marginal favorites as the Portland Trail Blazers will be playing on back-to-back nights; they beat the Detroit Pistons 118-103 at home on Saturday.
On that note, let's take a look a hypothetical combined starting five of the Miami Heat and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Miami Heat vs Portland Trail Blazers combined starting 5
Point Guard - Damian Lillard | Shooting Guard - CJ McCollum | Small Forward - Jimmy Butler | Power Forward - Bam Adebayo | Center - Enes Kanter.
Damian Lillard and shooting guard CJ McCollum have been two key players for the Portland Trail Blazers in offense, and with both healthy, the team would hope to go deep in the playoffs.
Lillard has been a solid MVP candidate this season. The six-time All-Star is averaging 29 points, four rebounds and seven assists per game, doing so with 44/38/93 shooting splits.
McCollum, who has played 27 of the team's 52 games so far, has put up 23.7 points, four rebounds and four assists per game with 45/40/85 shooting splits this campaign.
Meanwhile, for the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo have led from the front and have made their presence felt at both ends of the court.
Butler has guided the Miami Heat to a 23-14 record when he has played. The Miami Heat have gone 4-11 in his absence.
The three-time All-NBA player is averaging 21.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and a league-leading two steals per game this season. Butler is the Miami Heat's leader in points and assists and also has the best Defensive Rating in the team (eighth-best in the league) this season.
Bam Adebayo is also a key player for the Miami Heat, something he showed in last year's playoffs. Adebayo is putting up career highs in points (19.1) and assists (5.4) while also providing 9.5 rebounds, a steal and a block per game this season.
Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers have been hit by injuries to two of their starting players this campaign; CJ McCollum and center Jusuf Nurkic have missed significant playing time.
Nurkic is currently out with 'injury management. However, Enes Kanter has given the team great quality on the paint, coming in as Nurkic's replacement.
Kanter is averaging 12.2 points and 12 rebounds per game so far, doing so with a 60% field-goal percentage from the field and 79% from the free-throw line. He is coming off a huge night against the Detroit Pistons, registering a 24-point, 30-rebound double-double outing.
It was only the fourth 30-rebound game by a player in the 21st century as Kanter established a new record for most rebounds by a Portland Trail Blazers player. Moreover, he has 29 double-doubles and has been played all 52 games this season.
Also Read: NBA Season 2020-21: Top 5 active players yet to reach the playoffs.