Third quarter report
The Heat are on the road but they don’t look any worse. They have a bit of cushion as they currently lead the Trail Blazers 94-83.
If the Heat keep playing like this, they will increase their record to 20-17 in no time. On the other hand, the Trail Blazers will have to settle for a 13-25 record unless things change (and quickly).
Who is playing
Miami Heat @ Portland Trail Blazers
Current records: Miami 19-17, Portland 13-24
How to watch
- When: Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 10 pm Eastern Time
- Where: Fashion Center in the Rose Quarter – Portland, Oregon
- TV: KATU 2.2 ABC
- Continue: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try it for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket cost: $9.99
What to know
The Miami Heat’s road trip will continue when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers at 10:00 pm ET on Saturday at the Moda Center in the Rose Quarter. The Trail Blazers suffered a loss in their last game and will look to turn around the Heat, who are coming off a victory.
The Heat head into this one after bettors set last week’s low over/under at 222.5, but even that ended up being too high. They earned a 97-92 victory over the Jazz on Thursday.
Several players turned in solid performances to lead the Heat to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jaime Jaquez Jr., who went 7-for-11 en route to 20 points plus seven assists and seven rebounds. Jáquez Jr. continues to advance, surpassing his previous point total in each of the last four games he has played. Duncan Robinson, on the other hand, was considerably less useful, going 0-for-5 from deep.
Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers traveled a difficult path last season and, unfortunately for them, the road hasn’t gotten any easier so far this season. They took a 117-111 hit in the loss column at the hands of the Mavericks. The loss hurts even more as Portland was up 87-75 with 2:04 left in the third.
Miami’s victory raised its record to 19-17. As for Portland, their loss dropped their record to 13-24.
Saturday’s game is shaping up to be a tough matchup: the Heat haven’t given the ball away easily this season, having averaged just 12.4 turnovers per game (they rank fifth in turnovers per game overall). It’s a different story for the Trail Blazers, however, as they have averaged 15.6. Given the Heat’s considerable advantage in that area, the Trail Blazers will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything went rosy for the Heat against the Trail Blazers when the teams last played in March 2024, when the team earned a 142-82 victory. In that game, the Heat built a 74-40 halftime lead, an impressive feat that they will look to repeat on Saturday.
Odd
Miami is a 3.5-point favorite against Portland, according to the latest report NBA Odds.
Bettors were in line with the betting community on this one, as the game started with a 3.5 point lead and stayed there.
The over/under is 219 points.
See NBA selections for every game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get Picks Now.
History of the series
Miami has won 7 of its last 10 games against Portland.
- March 29, 2024: Miami 142 vs. Portland 82
- February 27, 2024: Miami 106 vs. Portland 96
- November 7, 2022: Portland 110 vs. Miami 107
- October 26, 2022: Miami 119 vs. Portland 98
- January 19, 2022: Miami 104 vs. Portland 92
- January 5, 2022: Miami 115 vs. Portland 109
- April 11, 2021: Miami 107 vs. Portland 98
- March 25, 2021: Portland 125 vs. Miami 122
- February 9, 2020 – Portland 115 vs. Miami 109
- January 5, 2020: Miami 122 vs. Portland 111
