Who’s Playing
Miami Heat @ Orlando Magic
Current Records: Miami 13-12, Orlando 17-12
How To Watch
- When: Saturday, December 21, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET
- Where: Kia Center — Orlando, Florida
- TV: FanDuel SN – Florida
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $30.00
What to Know
Having just played yesterday, the Miami Heat will head out on the road to face off against the Orlando Magic at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday at Kia Center. Neither of these teams found much success offensively their last time out, scoring well below their season average.
The Heat are headed into this one after the oddsmakers set last week’s over/under low at 217.5, but even that wound up being too high. They fell 104-97 to the Thunder on Friday. Miami has now taken an ‘L’ in back-to-back games.
The Heat’s loss came about despite a quality game from Tyler Herro, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and 12 rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Herro a new career-high in offensive rebounds (three).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, the Heat struggled to work together and finished the game with only 20 assists. That’s the fewest assists they’ve posted since back in November.
Meanwhile, the Magic’s recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their third straight defeat. They fell to the Thunder 105-99.
Miami’s loss ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-12. As for Orlando, their defeat dropped their record down to 17-12.
Keep an eye on the arc in Saturday’s match: The Heat have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 14.7 threes per game. It’s a different story for the Magic, though, as they’ve been averaging only 11.5. Given the Heat’s sizable advantage in that area, the Magic will need to find a way to close that gap.
The Heat are hoping to beat the odds on Saturday, as the experts think they’re headed for a loss. Bettors picking them against the spread have some confidence (to put it mildly), as the team is sitting on a five-game streak of failing to cover when playing on the road.
Odds
Orlando is a 3-point favorite against Miami, according to the latest NBA odds.
The line has drifted a bit towards the Magic, as the game opened with the Magic as a 1-point favorite.
The oddsmakers are predicting a defensive showdown and set the over/under low at 208.5 points.
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Series History
Miami has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Orlando.
- Oct 23, 2024 – Orlando 116 vs. Miami 97
- Feb 06, 2024 – Miami 121 vs. Orlando 95
- Jan 21, 2024 – Orlando 105 vs. Miami 87
- Jan 12, 2024 – Miami 99 vs. Orlando 96
- Dec 20, 2023 – Miami 115 vs. Orlando 106
- Apr 09, 2023 – Miami 123 vs. Orlando 110
- Mar 11, 2023 – Orlando 126 vs. Miami 114
- Feb 11, 2023 – Miami 107 vs. Orlando 103
- Jan 27, 2023 – Miami 110 vs. Orlando 105
- Apr 10, 2022 – Orlando 125 vs. Miami 111
