By Halloween this season will be either a trick or a treat for the Miami Heat due to the schedule. Five of the first six games are at American Airlines Arena, which helps. Since the first six opponents are equally split between lottery and playoff teams, that gives a gauge on much of last season's second half was for real. In October the Heat face,
Oddshark has Miami as 4 point favorites versus Orlando, as of 10/17/2017, in the opener. The Heat finished last season #2 in the power rankings, so time will tell how much of that carries over to this season.