Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: Betting Odds and Predictions

The Miami Heat (35-11) and Oklahoma City Thunder (36-12) will meet up for the first time during the 2011-12 campaign on Sunday night inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.

Las Vegas oddsmakers opened up the Thunder as one-point home favorites, but that number has risen by a point in most spots, while the total is sitting at 201.5.

Miami has won four straight games and is coming off a decisive 88-73 win over the Detroit Pistons as nine-point road favorites.  

The Heat come into this contest with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, while tonight's opponent would be the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs if they started today.

It's important to note that the road team captured both meetings in last year's series, which included a 108-103 win by the Heat as one-point underdogs on Jan. 30, 2011.

Heat forward LeBron James is certainly the player to watch on the offensive end, averaging a team-high 27.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.

He has actually performed even better than that against the Thunder in 14 career games, scoring 28.6 points a contest.

Sports bettors will find that the Heat are 12-11 against the spread (ATS) as a road underdog of three points or less the last two-plus years.

Oklahoma City may have been caught looking ahead to this marquee matchup when capturing a 149-140 double-overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves as 10-point home favorites on Friday night.

The Thunder have fallen into quite the pattern in alternating wins and losses versus the Las Vegas betting odds over the past 11 games.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook each scored 40-plus points in a game for the second time this year, combining for 85 points on 32-of-54 shooting from the field.

Playing in front of the home fans has been quite an advantage for the Thunder, trailing only the Heat (20-2) and Los Angeles Lakers (20-3) for the NBA's best mark with a 21-4 home record.

I'm going to back the Heat due to their 3-1-1 ATS mark as a road underdog, while the Thunder are 3-13 ATS when playing at home against a team with a winning road record.

Pick: Miami Heat +2