Miami Heat vs LA Lakers Betting Line

Home: Los Angeles Lakers (22-14 overall, 16-2 at home)
Away: Miami Heat (28-8 overall, 13-6 on the road)
When: Sunday March 4, 2012 at 3:30pm ET
TV: ABC

Always a huge matchup, the Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Miami Heat again this Sunday afternoon. With a 16-2 home record this season, the Lakers are a different team at home than they are on the road. The Lakers will need their twin towers to force the Heat into becoming jump shooters, and be efficient on the offensive end as well.

The Heat vs. Lakers betting lines have now opened at BetOnline, but we’re still waiting on Bovada. Both of these betting sites accept US bettors and credit card deposits. Click on any of the Lakers/Heat betting lines to place a bet.

Heat vs. Lakers Betting Odds

The Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat played on January 19th (in Miami), and the Heat won that game 98-87. With the Lakers playing so much better at home this year, we can’t rely too much on that result. We’ll take a closer look at this game once the betting lines have been posted.

* The content below was written for a previous matchup between the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. The odds above are for the game on January 19th, 2012.

The hottest team in the NBA meets the most mixed up bunch of superstars when the Los Angeles Lakers travel to Miami to take on the Heat. Tip off is set for 7 pm EST at the American Airlines Arena. The NBA’s “Dream Finals” match-up will be in preview Thursday night as both teams battle for playoff position in their respective conferences. The Lakers are listed at -2 (-110) at the BetOnline.com and the best line for the Heat is +2.5 (-105) at the Bovada Sportsbook.

Lakers at Heat Betting Lines

* This game is over, so the betting lines have been removed. See the odds chart above for the latest Lakers vs. Heat betting lines.

Los Angeles Lakers vs Miami Heat NBA Preview

Miami Heat

The Miami Heat (43-21) had a closed-door locker room meeting after a recent home loss where players got to clear the air. Superstars Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh have not meshed the way experts predicted. Miami has lost five in a row and six of their last seven games to fall into third place in the NBA Eastern Conference, 4.5 games behind Boston and two games behind Chicago.

Tuesday’s loss to Portland further exposed the Heat’s fourth quarter weakness. In the final 12 minutes of the game, the Trail Blazers outscored Miami 28-21 to win 105-96. Point guard Mike Bibby came to the Heat to add experience and help push James and crew over the top. To date, his impact has been minimal. In four games, Bibby is averaging 20 minutes, but only three points and less than two assists per game.

James leads the team in scoring with 26.3 points per game while Dwayne Wade averages 25.6 points and 4.4 assists per contest. Chris Bosh grabs 8.1 boards and scores 18.1 points per game while power forward Udonis Haslem collects 8.2 boards a game to lead the Heat off the glass. Mario Chalmers starts at point guard while Eddie House comes off the bench to add scoring punch.

Los Angeles Lakers

The LA Lakers (46-19) roasted San Antonio 99-83 to kick off their four game road trip in which they face three of the league’s top seven teams. The Spurs got crushed 34-13 in the first quarter as the Lakers’ defense shut everything down, caused turnovers and ran the older Spurs back to the Alamo.

Kobe Bryant had 26 points, Andrew Bynum had 17 rebounds and Lamar Odom had six assists in the easy win. The victory pushed the post-All Star break win streak to seven, and the Lakers followed that up with a 101-87 win over a very strong Atlanta Hawks club Tuesday night.

Bryant has elevated his play to look for teammates more, power forward Pau Gasol is hitting from the outside and the inside, while Bynum and Odom are playing their best basketball of the season. Not many teams can compete with Los Angeles when they have all cylinders firing like they have in the past two weeks. Eight wins in a row now looking for nine.

Lakers vs Heat Prediction for Thursday, March 10th

Miami needs this game to stay within shouting distance of Boston in the East. The Lakers are peaking at the end of the year like good teams do. Look for the Heat to press the Lakers into errors, but the veteran’s from LA will prevail because they have the best closer in the game. Gasol and Bynum should play a large role in this game as well. In the end, Bryant outguns James and Los Angeles wins 103-94.

Take the Lakers -2 (-110) at BetOnline.com

Take the Heat +2.5 (-105) at Bovada.lv

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The article below is from a previous matchup between the Miami Heat & LA Lakers

We’ve been waiting for this all season long, and it’s finally here. The NBA’s most anticipated match-up comes on Christmas Day when the Miami Heat (22-9) travel to the Staples Center to play the Los Angeles Lakers (21-8). Tip-off is 5 pm ET, where the back-to-back NBA Champions will be favored to win.

Information about betting on this game is directly below. For a game preview and free prediction, scroll down this page.

Miami Heat at LA Lakers Online Sportsbook Betting Lines

Betting lines for the Heat vs Lakers game are finally posted, and unfortunately they’re the same everywhere right now. As the lines change getting closer to game time, we’ll update this page. All of these online sportsbooks accept US bettors and Visa credit cards for deposits. For US handicappers, Sportsbook.com and Players Only have the best success rate for Visa deposits, but the others are decent as well.

If you want to bet on this game, sign up and deposit now so you’re ready before game time.

* Outdated lines removed.

Miami Heat vs LA Lakers Live Betting Online

This is the most anticipated regular season game of the 2010 – 2011 NBA basketball season. All of the best online sportsbooks will be offering some sort of live betting for this game, but the Bovada Sportsbook, BetOnline.com, and JustBet.cx will likely be offering the widest variety of live bets. Of the three, Bovada should be the best.

Heat vs Lakers Live Betting at the Bovada Sportsbook

We expect that the Bovada Sportsbook will be offering live betting for the Heat vs Lakers game on Saturday. A game of this magnitude, they won’t be missing. Bovada has the best live betting available to US bettors, and possibly the best in the entire industry. Typically, when Bovada has live betting on a game, hundreds of bets can be made. For NBA basketball games, this means you should be able to bet on quarters, first half, second half, who will score the next 3-pointer, and dozens of other bets during the game. Tons of individual player props and team props should be available as well.

The Bovada Sportsbook live betting interface has very sleek graphics and is simple to use. Minimum bet amounts are $1, and most bets max at $500. To use the Bovada live betting interface, no software download is required. It uses Flash technology and can be used in your browser window. Check out the Bovada Live Betting interface.

Heat vs Lakers Online Sportsbook Prop Bets

All of the online sports betting sites listed above will be offering prop bets for the Heat vs Lakers game on Christmas. Since Bodog will be have this as a featured game for live betting, it’s likely they’ll be the leader for prop bet options.

With that said, Bovada.lv, BetOnline, and JustBet.cx should have a ton of prop bets available as well. If you have accounts at several sportsbooks, you’ll be able to compare and get the best odds possible. If you don’t have many accounts, sign up at a couple of the sportsbooks listed above. Using our links, you can get free bets and bonuses when you sign up and make your first real money deposit.

If I was looking to sign up at one site, just to place a couple of prop bets and/or a bet on the spread, I’d sign up at Bovada.lv. They’re going to have the most betting options for this game, and they accept players from the US as well. For US bettors, Bovada has an ‘ok’ success rate for Visa credit card deposits. If your card doesn’t work in the automated cashier, contact their customer support department. They can run your card manually through other processors, with higher success rates than the automated system. If that doesn’t work, go to BetOnline.com instead. They have the highest success rate for Visa deposits, and they’ll have a ton of betting options available for the Heat/Lakers game.

Miami Heat vs LA Lakers Game Preview & Analysis

LeBron James vs Kobe Bryant. The wannabe vs the 5-time champion.

The experiment in Miami is a win it all or bust gamble and all the pieces are there for the ring. However, King James needs to prove he can carry his team in crunch-time, like Bryant has done many times before him.

While the Miami Heat started off slow, they’ve turned things around and have been playing much better as of late. James, Wade, Bosh & company have found their groove, and they’ve been tough in their last 10-12 games.

The LA Lakers haven’t been playing ‘great’ basketball this year, but they’ve been playing the way they normally do – good enough, while saving their energy for the playoffs. When they want to win bad enough, they have another gear they can go into. I expect they’ll hit this extra gear on Saturday.

Heat vs Lakers Positional Matchups

Point Guard

Carlos Arroyo (Heat) vs Derek Fisher (Lakers): These two veterans match up very evenly on offense. Fisher is averaging 26.7 minutes per game, 7.4 points, 2.7 assists while Arroyo averages 22.4 minutes, 6.7 points, and 2.1 assists per game: neither showing great production from the one spot. Fisher makes his teammates better than Arroyo does, but Arroyo is younger and faster.

Edge: Even

Shooting Guard

Dwayne Wade (Heat) vs Kobe Bryant (Lakers). Doesn’t get better than this, right? Bryant is knocking down almost 26 points a game while playing the fewest minutes since the 97-98 season. He leads the Lakers with 4.6 assists per game, and is pulling down 5.1 rebounds as well. Wade is scoring 23.5 points per game, along with 4.6 assists and 6.4 rebounds per game. But the numbers do not tell the whole story. Kobe Bryant is the better defender and that makes all the difference in the fourth quarter.

Edge: LA Lakers

Power Forward

Chris Bosh (Heat) vs Ron Artest (Lakers). Argumentative Artest is averaging only 7.7 points and 3.0 boards a game, but he’s a defensive specialist who has not lost a step since his suspension. Back in full swing for his second season with the Lakers, he’s shown durability as well as physical presence. Bosh is worth 18 points and eight boards a game. Tall and quick, Bosh will be a handful for Artest.

Edge: Miami Heat

Small Forward

LeBron James (Heat) vs Pau Gasol (Lakers). Gasol shifts to this spot if Andrew Bynum is healthy and playing center. Gasol is not a strong defender, so James will get his openings. However, the lanky Laker can shoot from the outside making him a challenge to guard as well. Gasol is pulling down 11.1 rebounds per game, and Phil Jackson will be pushing Gasol & Odom to grab all the boards they can. This may ultimately be more important than the defensive scheme the Lakers set up against James.

Edge: Miami Heat

Center

Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Heat) vs Andrew Bynum (Lakers). Bynum is coming off another knee injury but seems to be healthy. Ilgauskas is solid if not spectacular but lacks quickness and agility.

Edge: LA Lakers

Bench

The Heat reserves like Udonis Haslem and James Jones can’t match-up with Lamar Odom of the Lakers. Odom can shoot inside, outside, run the break and rebound. He has been starting most of the year so he gets a big check for his experience. Shannon Brown backs up Fisher at point guard and averages over 10 points in 18 minutes every game.

Edge: LA Lakers

Coaching

Phil Jackson, the zen master against Erik Spoelstra. Last year Jackson had to have a toe sized for his 11th NBA ring. Spoelstra is just happy the Heat have turned things around, allowing him to keep his job. Is there any doubt?

Edge: LA Lakers

Experience

The LA Lakers are back to back NBA Champions, and have been here/done this many times over. They know how to play the big games, and they rise to the occasion. The Heat, while an ultra-talented team on the rise, has to prove they’re capable of winning a road game of this magnitude.

Edge: LA Lakers

Miami Heat at Los Angeles Lakers Free Prediction

This will be a close game, but I expect the Lakers to pull away in the last several minutes of the fourth quarter. Kobe will sit any time the game is close, giving him plenty of energy late in the game. My prediction for this game is a score in the range of Lakers 94 – Heat 87. The LA Lakers experience and home court advantage will prevail in the end.

Bet on the Heat vs Lakers Game at BetOnline.com

Kobe Bryant vs LeBron James

Kobe Bryant entered the NBA as a teenager in 1996 as Jordan’s Bulls were finishing the second title of their second three-peat. Bryant’s talent emerged but it wasn’t until Shaquille O’Neal arrived on the left coast that Kobe could earn his first ring. The Lakers got their own three-peat in 1999-00 through 2001-02. But the question plagued Bryant, “Could he win a title without Shaq?” He silenced critics in 2008-09 winning his fourth championship and his first without O’Neal. The Lakers repeated last season and Bryant seems determined to match Jordon’s six rings. Now a ‘senior citizen’ of the NBA at 32, Bryant is still wearing the King’s crown, while “King” James is still the self proclaimed heir to the throne until he wins a championship.

LeBron James burst onto the NBA scene in 2003 as an 18 year old rookie. The next phenomenon, his power and speed are unmatched for a 6’8” power forward. In his seven seasons, he is averaging 27.6 points per game and 7 boards. He is a highlight waiting to happen, but in Cleveland he never had the supporting cast to be a champion. Now with his big move to Miami, LeBron hopes to capitalize on Dwayne Wade’s success and ride him to his first-ever NBA title. To reach his goal, James needs to prove that his team is the best – not Bryant’s.