Miami Heat at Charlotte Bobcats (N/A)

Larry Brown has his Bobcats in unfamiliar territory - one game over .500 (20-19) nearly halfway through the season.

Charlotte is off to its best start in franchise history and Gerald Wallace is a big reason for that.

Wallace tweaked his ankle in the fourth quarter of Monday’s contest versus the Kings but returned in the game. He did not practice Tuesday and is listed as a game-time decision for Wednesday.

"I’ve rolled my ankles before but this one hurts," Wallace said following Monday’s victory. "Hopefully, I’ll go home, ice it and rest it and I’ll be OK tomorrow.”

"If you lose a guy like Gerald, it’s tough,” said Raymond Felton. “You lose a lot of your team because he does everything."

The Bobcats have won eight straight at home behind Wallace’s stat line of 18.5 ppg, 11.3 rpg and 1.5 spg and if the freak of an athlete is healthy the team should make it nine. Charlotte defeated Miami earlier this month on the road, 107-97, as 6-point pups.

The Heat have been a mediocre road team this season (9-9 SU, 10-8 ATS) but terrible in back-to-back situations which they will be in Wednesday. Miami is 1-5 SU and 2-4 ATS in B2Bs this season.

Pick: Bobcats


Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors (+6, 230)

The Warriors are working with eight healthy bodies which includes three D-League call-ups.

"Well, the Golden State D-leaguers got a win," head coach Don Nelson joked after Monday’s win over the Bulls. "Here we are with seven and a half players but we found a way to get a win."

It seems that Nelson’s squad rises to the occasion when many of its teammates are sitting on the bench with injuries. Golden State defeated the Mavericks on the road in late November, 111-103, as 12.5-point underdogs while only playing six players.

The Warriors have a young roster that doesn’t fatigue so less might be more with a team like this where players are looking to prove their worth and will go all out for 48 minutes.

The team’s leading scorer, Monta Ellis, threw up the most shots an NBA game has seen this season (39) and these young kids want to get up and down the floor as Nelson’s style dictates.

Denver is a team that will gladly play along with an up-tempo pace. These two teams have played to the over in three straight, combining to average 244.0 ppg during those games.

Pick: Over