Lace up your sneakers and get ready for another slam-dunk edition of The Morning Dunk.
Miami Brings the Heat
The resurgent Miami Heat took it to the young Brooklyn Nets in South Beach on Thursday night. Jimmy Butler and company turned up the thermostat and cooked the Nets, taking the 122-114 win. Butler dropped a sizzling 36 points while Duncan Robinson heated things up from downtown with six 3-pointers. Center Bam Adebayo stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Adebayo is an interesting NBA Defensive Player of the Year candidate at +1200 odds.
After an atrocious start to the campaign, Erik Spoelstra’s squad has now won seven straight games. Miami will look to keep the streak going against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets may want to take a fire extinguisher with them on their next trip to Miami. Mikal Bridges scored 26 for the youthful Nets' squad in the loss. The Association's best team ATS, Brooklyn failed to cover for just the second time this season. The Nets are now 9-2-1 ATS on the year.
A Thunderous Encounter
Meanwhile, led by the electrifying Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder stormed the court to face Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
OKC entered Thursday night as winners of five of its last six contests and lived up to the hype. More importantly for bettors
With SGA, Josh Giddey and rookie sensation Chet Holmgren zipping around the court the future is bright in Oklahoma City. Without the suspended Draymond Green, the Warriors had no answer defensively. Golden State tried to rain down threes, but it wasn’t enough.
After an intense, and contentious contest, Gilgeous-Alexander's 24 points led the Thunder to a resounding victory. The 6-7 Warriors have now lost five straight contests, and look a shell of their former selves. Is this the end of the Golden State Warriors dynasty?
