The Miami Heat will look to take the lead in 2011 NBA Finals predictions for the championship when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night in South Florida. The Mavericks vs Heat odds have a scheduled starting time of 9:00pm EST and can be seen live on ABC from the AmericanAirlines Arena. It has been almost five years since Dwayne Wade and the Heat defeated the Mavericks for the title and now can add LeBron James and Chris Bosh in to mix.

Online sportsbooks currently have the Heat -4.5 basketball betting favorites at home vs the Mavericks in NBA Finals odds for Game 1 with an over/under betting total of 188 UNDER (-115). Bookmakers also have listed Miami -200 favorites on the money line vs Dallas +170 for Tuesday’s game on ABC television. The Heat are slight favorites to win in NBA predictions for Game 1 at home and the NBA series prices reflect the same with Miami -175 to win the to win the seven game series while the Mavericks are listed as +155 underdogs. The Mavericks vs Heat faced off in 2006 for the title which Miami won in 6-games. Therefore Vegas bookmakers and online sportsbooks have set the over/under for total games in a series at 5.5 OVER (-225) or UNDER (+185).

After losing Game 1 vs the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals, the Miami Heat were able to bounce back with 4-straight wins and now find themselves in prime position to back up all the “championship” talk since James left Cleveland for South Beach. It is probably safe to say that the way James made his exit from the Cavaliers was anything but professional but it is also probably safe to say that we haven’t seen a professional on the court such as James in a very long time. While Wade is quietly averaging 23.7-points per game this postseason, James is leading the Heat with 26-points, 5.5-assist and 1.7-steals per game. While covering the spread in NBA finals predictions might be difficult for the Heat in Game 1, the moneyline looks to be a safe wager as Miami has gone 5-0 at home and 6-1 overall on the road to the championship.

While the Heat are deserving favorites, let’s not forget that Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks also won the Western Conference title 4-1 but also swept the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers in the semifinals. Nowitzki has led the Mavericks during the playoffs with 28.4-points per game while Tyson Chandler has been a beast under the boards with 9.3-rebounds. Jason Kidd has filled in the usually gaps with 7.7-assists and 2.2-steals this postseason but will need to also be an offensive scoring option if the Mavericks are to defeat the high-powered Heat. While the “3 Kings” of Miami continue to receive much of the public action in Vegas as favorites, it would be important to note heading into tonight’s game on ABC that the underdogs Mavericks have gone 5-0 when playing Miami at the AmericanAirlines Arena and 10-1 overall in the playoffs.

 

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