Miami Heat vs Charlotte Hornets Prediction, 3/17/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: Miami Heat vs Charlotte Hornets

Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Location: Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

Spectrum Center is the site where the Charlotte Hornets (34-34) will meet the Miami Heat (38-30) on Tuesday.

The Heat faced the Magic and took a loss by a final of 121-117 in their last contest. Miami ended with a 46.6% FG percentage (41 out of 88) and made 12 out of their 38 shots from distance. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Heat made 23 of their 28 tries for a rate of 82.1%. When discussing getting rebounds, they earned 32 with 7 of them being offensive. They also doled out 25 dimes in this game while forcing the other team into 20 turnovers and getting 13 steals. In the matter of defending, Miami allowed the other team to shoot 49.4% from the field on 44 of 89 shooting. Orlando doled out 26 dimes and had 6 steals for the matchup. On top of that, Orlando totaled 49 rebounds (11 offensive, 38 defensive) and earned 5 blocked shots. Orlando went 92.0% at the free throw line by converting 23 of 25 tries. They also converted 10 out of their 32 attempts from 3-point range. Concerning personal fouls, the Heat ended up walking away with 21 and the Magic had 23 personal fouls.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. is a guy who had an impact for the contest. He ended up scoring 22 points on 9 of 16 shooting. He was on the court for 30 mins and totaled 2 rebounds. Jacquez finished the game at 56.3% from the field and also totaled 7 dimes.

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Miami comes into this matchup with a mark of 38-30 for the season. They are averaging 120.4 points per game (2nd in the league) while shooting 46.5% from the field. The Heat are shooting 36.0% on shots from beyond the arc (913 of 2,533) and 79.1% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Miami is collecting 47.0 rebounds per game and is sitting with 1,947 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 4th in the league in terms of passing. They are turning it over 13.9 times per game and as a squad they commit 18.9 fouls every game.

On the defensive end, the Heat have forced 15.7 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 20.5 personal fouls. They are relinquishing 34.8% on three-point shots while they are 20th in the NBA in opponents PPG (116.6). The Heat defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 45.7% (2,894 of 6,327) and they concede 46.6 boards per game as a unit. They are ranked 19th in the league in allowing assists to the opposition with 1,830 surrendered so far this year.

The last time they took the court, the Hornets walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 115-102 when they played the Spurs. The Hornets recorded 28 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards for a total of 39 in this matchup. They turned it over 12 times, while getting 7 steals in this game. The Spurs had 20 fouls in this game which took the Hornets to the charity stripe for 17 attempts. They were able to make 14 of those for a rate of 82.4%. Pertaining to three-point attempts, Charlotte knocked down 18 of 54 tries (33.3%). When the final whistle was blown, the Hornets walked away from this one shooting 35 out of 93 from the field which had them sitting at 37.6%. The Hornets permitted the Spurs to convert 43 of their 92 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.7% for the game. They finished the game shooting 33.3% from distance via 11 out of 33 and walked away from this one shooting 18 of 21 at the free throw line (85.7%). In relation to how they attacked the glass, Charlotte permitted San Antonio to snag 54 in total (15 on the offensive side).

Miles Bridges pitched in for the Hornets in the game. Bridges scored 22 points in his 34 mins of playing time and had 2 dimes in this matchup. He buried 8 of 16 in the matchup for a field goal rate of 50.0%, and added 4 rebounds.

Charlotte has a win-loss mark of 34-34 for the year. When it comes to offensive execution, the Hornets are connecting on 45.7% from the floor, which is ranked 26th in the league. Charlotte has 7,855 points for the year (115.5 per contest) and they average 46.1 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 26.4 times per contest (15th in basketball) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 15.6 times per game. The Hornets are committing 19.1 fouls per game and they hit 81.9% from the free throw line.

The Hornets defensively are ranked 10th in the NBA in points allowed per game with 112.3. They are able to force 12.7 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 47.0% from the field (15th in basketball). The Charlotte defense concedes 36.1% on 3-point shots (873 of 2,418) and their opposition knocks down 80.5% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 26.4 dimes and 39.6 rebounds every game, ranking them 13th and 1st in basketball.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Miami

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