The Miami Heat (46-21) are suddenly hot again and will test their mettle against a playoff-caliber opponent from the Western Conference for the fifth time in as many games when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder (43-23) on Wednesday.  The Heat (-6.5) have won their last three games following a season-high five-game losing streak, including the past two in dominant fashion.

Miami is coming off a 110-80 rout of San Antonio on Monday, returning the favor for a 125-95 blowout they were on the losing end of 10 days earlier when they visited the Spurs, who own the NBA’s best record.  The Heat also clobbered Memphis 118-85 last Saturday behind a combined 55 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds from the duo of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.  The Grizzlies currently sit in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Oklahoma City has the fourth-best record in the West and leads the Northwest Division by 3.5 games over Denver.  The Thunder have won their last four games both straight-up and against the spread with the UNDER cashing in their past three.  They close out a three-game road trip in Miami and have beaten their last three opponents by double digits, all of whom reside in the Eastern Conference.

However, the Heat will provide much tougher competition for Oklahoma City after the team beat up on three teams from the East who have a combined 51 wins between them (Detroit, Cleveland and Washington).  The Thunder lost to Miami at home in the only previous meeting this season 108-103 back on January 30, as Wade, James and Chris Bosh totaled 75 points.

Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with a game-high 33 points against the Heat but made just 7 of 20 shots from the field.  After the game, Durant reportedly called Bosh a “fake tough guy” after the two had some choice words for each other in the first quarter.  Both players picked up technical fouls, adding some more intrigue to the rematch.

The Thunder had won the previous two meetings with Miami both straight-up and against the spread before the “Big Three” was assembled.  The total has gone OVER in seven of the last meetings, and the winner has scored 100 points or more in all seven of those games that went OVER.  The UNDER has cashed in Oklahoma City’s last three games overall though after four straight OVERs.

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