The Charlotte Hornets will travel to Miami, Florida to face the Miami Heat on Sunday evening with the game tipping off at 6:00 PM ET and will air on Bally Sports Charlotte and the SUN TV.

Charlotte doesn’t have great depth and has had to battle through several key injuries this season as many of their top players including Gordon Hayward, LaMelo Ball, and Terry Rozier have missed multiple games due to injuries. However, Ball returned to the lineup on Friday and Hayward is a game-time decision with a calf injury.  

The Hornets have the 3^rd worst record in the Eastern Conference and have been one of the lower-scoring teams in the NBA as they are averaging the 3^rd fewest points per game with an average of 108.92 points per game while also having been one of the worst teams defensively in the league as they are allowing the 6^th most points per game with an average of 120.53 points allowed per game. 

The Hornets are on a four-game losing streak and are coming off a blowout loss on the road against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday and have lost their last two games by an average of 30.5 points per game. The Charlotte Hornets will look to avoid their 5^th loss in a row when they travel to face the Miami Heat.

The Miami Heat enter this game with a record of 22-16 which puts them in 7^th place in the Eastern Conference following a 99-96 win at home against the Orlando Magic. Miami is one of the best defensive teams in the league as they are allowing an average of 111.63 points per game which is the 7^th fewest points allowed per game in the NBA, however, the Heat like to play at a slower pace than the average team in the NBA which has also led them to be one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league as they are averaging 112.5 points per game which is the 7^th fewest points per game. 

Bam Adebayo enters this game averaging a double-double with an average of 22 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while also leading the team in blocks with an average of 0.96 blocks per game. The Miami Heat will look to build off the momentum following the win against the Magic when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday evening.

BookMaker has the Miami Heat listed as 8-point favorites at home against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday evening. Miami has won eight of the last ten including the previous three meetings. The Hornets are 5-4-1 ATS in the last ten and have covered the spread in two of the previous three games in the series. The Charlotte Hornets are 14-22 ATS overall, 7-12 ATS on the road, and 14-19 ATS as an underdog this season while the Miami Heat are 18-20 ATS overall, 7-11 ATS at home, and 10-11 ATS as a favorite on the year.

Charlotte is starting to get a lot of key players back, however, they have struggled in the series against Miami having lost eight of the previous ten matchups. However, the Hornets have been the better team at covering the spread in the series going 5-4-1 ATS in the last ten and covering the spread in two of the previous three games in the series. As a result, I am taking the points with the Charlotte Hornets when they travel to face the Miami Heat on Sunday evening.