Miami Heat vs Toronto Raptors Prediction: Heat to break unlucky streak

Miami, the reigning Eastern Conference finalist, has yet to pick up their first win of the season. The Heat will try to improve in their game against Toronto. Will they be able to break their losing streak? Let's find out.

The Heat lost both games at the start of the regular season, even though they didn't deserve to. Bam Adebayo has been unlucky, sometimes not making easy shots. Tyler Herro is in good shape, Jimmy Butler is also very good, and Miami has good role players as well. The Heat are moving the ball well and working hard on defense, and the results are sure to come. Max Strus replaced Duncan Robinson as their starting five and now the former has less than 10 minutes to play. An exchange is called for. Victor Oladipo and Omer Yurtseven are still in the infirmary, but one of them could be back in action for the game against Toronto.

First Erik Spoelstra's men got a whole bunch of three-pointers from the Bulls and lost by 8 points, and then they failed to cope with a 104-111 defeat at the hands of Boston. Miami took an early lead against the Celtics, but then the Heat couldn't score more than two three-pointers in any quarter. Strus didn't have much going for him on the night, while Laurie and Vincent's efforts weren't enough. Adebayo, Herro and Butler had a decent game, scoring a combined 62 points with five players scoring 96 of the team's 104 points.

The Raptors still have an imbalance between their starting five and their bench. Gary Trent Jr., Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby consistently play 35+ minutes, while the bench is filled with younger players like Dalano Banton, Precious Achiuwa and Christian Koloko. Siakam has become the undisputed leader of Toronto's offense lately, Barnes shows a very mature game and scores difficult shots, and VanVleey, Anunoby and Trent are capable of showing star level in certain games. The Canadian club defends well at the arc, but still lacks size under the basket. Khem Birch has recovered from injury but has not been given a spot in the rotation, and Chris Boucher is still in the infirmary along with Otto Porter Jr.

After defeating Cleveland in their opening game of the regular season, Nick Nurse's team lost on the road to Brooklyn, 105-109. Siakam had one of the best games of his career, adding 12 rebounds and 11 assists to his 37 points. Barnes was also effective offensively, VanVleet shot well from beyond the arc and the bench players were more to blame for the loss. Achiuwa, Banton, Koloko and Young combined for only 9 points, and with that kind of support Toronto's leaders had little to show for it. In addition, the Raptors lost the home court battle and constantly ran into blocked shots underneath the basket.

The Heat won 4 of their last 6 games. Miami's win with overtime included looks interesting, and you can bet on it for 1.71 at Bet365.

Toronto has scored more than 110 points in 1 of the last 5 games, so it is worth betting on their Individual Total Under 107.5 points for 1.77 at Betking.

The Heat have owned the initiative in certain stretches of past games against Chicago and Boston. Miami defends well at the arc, sooner or later it should pay off. The Raptors have VanVleet, Anunoby and Trent who aren't very consistent on offense and with a very weak bench, that could have consequences. The home team is capable of neutralizing Barnes, a young forward unlikely to consistently score difficult mid-range shots. The Heat have lost to the Raptors twice this year, so it's time to improve their head-to-head stats. Here are the betting options for you to consider:

• H1 (-1.5) for 1.76;
• TU (214.5) for 2.06;
• W1+ TU (215.5) for 3.10.

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