Brooklyn Nets look to surge against the Miami Heat Thursday night. Can Brooklyn's hot streak continue, or will Miami's star power prevail? Betting lines reveal the intrigue.
The idea of tanking — which in NBA terms, is defined as an individual team purposely losing games in order to secure themselves a high first-round pick in the draft — apparently makes Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez very ill.
So much so, that the Nets (7-18) recent success might have sent their first-year head coach, a disciplinarian all in on developing a young roster that has started to display their potential in recent weeks, over the top as Brooklyn has won four of six games this month, including their last two at home - after an 0-9 start.
But Fernandez, out with the flu four nights ago when the Nets tied a franchise record for margin of victory in a 127-82 thumping of the Milwaukee Bucks in Brooklyn, New York, will be back on the bench when the 6- point underdog Nets host the Miami Heat (14-12) at Barclays Center, Thursday night.
Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. (ET) and the over/under total is 225.5 for the first head-to-head meeting of the 2025-26 NBA season between both teams.
Miami is (-235) on the money line, while the Nets are (+200) despite the teams appearing to be going in opposite directions in the win-loss ledger.
While it may be a bit early to start keeping tabs on playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference, the Nets, suddenly just four games out of a playoff-in-spot, are 4-2 in December and have won two straight home games.
Brooklyn, still just 6-13 vs. the Eastern Conference, has averaged 116.0 points per game in December with sharpshooting and play-making point guard Egor Demin, who is averaging 17.0 points and 3.0 rebounds, in addition to shooting 75%, over his last 10 games, providing a lift since being inserted into the starting lineup several weeks ago.
The Nets, 5-3-2 against the spread and 4-6 in their last 10 games, have also stepped it up defensively, holding four different opponents to under 105 points in December.
Miami, starting a three-game road trip on a five-game losing streak, hasn’t won since hitting 24 3s in a 140-103 home victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, Dec. 1.
The Heat, 4-6 in their last 10 games, has failed to cover in their last three games, despite being favored in two of them.
Miami, 7-5 (58.3 %) as a favorite this season, is 3-7 against the spread in their last 10 games and 4-8 overall on the road.
Michael Porter Jr., held to 12 points by the Bucks, continues to lead the Nets with 25.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
The Heat, with four players averaging double figure points per game this season, is led by forward Norman Powell (24.4 points) and Bam Adebayo (19.2 points, 9.0 rebounds).
On the injury front for the Nets, EJ Liddell is out tonight, Cam Thomas (hamstring), who has been cleared for on-court activity will be reevaluated in two weeks and Haywood Highsmith (knee) will be out another two months, at least.
Tyler Herro (toe), Pelle Larsson (ankle) and Nikola Jovic (elbow) are out for Miami, with Norman Powell (calf) listed as questionable.
The Nets, playing for the first time in four days, have won just six times as an underdog in 24 games in 2025.
However, even on a rare off-night for Porter Jr. (12 points) the Nets, who are 4-2 in December, looked like a different team, especially with G Egor Demin running the point and distributing the basketball.
Brooklyn, getting 13.4 points per game from Nic Claxton, took advantage of Antetokounmpo not being around to dominate the Bucks inside.
And that could be a problem for the Heat, who haven’t won a game in over two weeks time and who are struggling to find any consistent offense unless their three-point shots are falling.
Claxton, with a 13.5 pt. over/under total tonight, is worth a look to go over for all prop players, especially if you can find anything at around (-102).
The Heat, 2-1 overall and against the spread vs. the Nets in their last three meetings, has hit a skid since opposing teams have started figured out they struggle to create much offensively in the half-court, or whenever they’re not sinking 3s.
Miami, 6-5-1 against the spread in road games entering tonight, also plays at Boston Friday night on the backend of a back-to-back.
So, spotting -5/5.5 points seems a bit risky with this current version of the Heat.
Fernie Ruano is a sports analyst and content creator in Miami, Florida and he contributed to this report.