Cleveland Cavs-Miami Heat Odds See Action Come in On Total for Game 3

Between covering the number (12) by hanging around in Game 2 and heading back home, the Miami Heat are not a double-digit underdog against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers for the first time in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

After being a 12/12.5-point favorite for the first two contests, the Cavs will now hit the road for the first time since an April 11 win in New York. For the season, they finished 30-11 outside Cleveland, the NBA’s third-best away record behind the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Miami finished 19-22 at Kaseya Center and are the only team to reach the postseason despite finishing under .500 at home. The Heat lost their regular-season finale against the visiting Washington Wizards, so they’ll be looking to win on Pat Riley Court for the first time since blowing out the shorthanded 76ers on April 7.

The Heat are just 4-10 over their last 14 home games, and packed for over a week when they left home to begin their playoff journey, winning in Chicago and Atlanta before heading to Cleveland after winning a pair of play-in games.

The Heat and Cavs split this season’s matchups at the Kaseya Center, the most recent of which resulted in a 126-106 victory for the visitors on Jan. 29. Including the first two games of this series, Cleveland has been favored in all five games against Miami this season, and is 4-1 straight up, but has covered just twice.

The ‘over’ has prevailed on four of five occasions, and is 2-for-2 in this series. The Cavs have scored 121 points in both wins, while the Heat are averaging 106.0 points in their losses. The Game 3 total has been set in the 213-214.5 range depending on the sportsbook.

Tyler Herro chastised Darius Garland as someone who shouldn’t talk because he’s a bad defender, too, so it’s not surprising public money has taken notice in betting this total up.

Projected point totals, courtesy of DraftKings, now have Donovan Mitchell sharing the highest scoring total on the board at 25.5. Mitchell had the highest number (26.5) for Game 2, while Herro’s was set at 24.5.

Bam Adebayo (19.5), Andrew Wiggins (16.5), Davion Mitchell (11.5), Kel’el Ware (6.5), Haywood Highsmith (6.5 and Duncan Robinson. Alec Burks has been pulled off the board. Wiggins’ number has dipped by a point, while Davion Mitchell’s projection has risen by the same margin.

Tony Mejia is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at tnyce1414@gmail.com