In a temper-flared full Friday evening, the Miami Heat were able to secure a 106-95 win against the New Orleans Pelicans in their first game out of the All-Star break.
Things became HEATed at the start of the fourth quarter after Kevin Love fouled Zion Williamson on a transition attempt. Naji Marshall and Jimmy Butler–who were both ejected–attempted to choke each other out, causing tempers to flare soon followed by Jose Alvarado, Thomas Bryant and Nikola Jovic getting involved in the scrapheap.
The Heat led by four — 84-80 — at the time of the altercation, which occurred not even a minute into the final frame. Jordan Hawkins’ wing triple put the Pelicans ahead 91-89 with 8:31 left, but the Heat rattled off an 11-0 run over the ensuing 5:51–where they got huge help from Bam Adebayo on both ends of the court.
WE GOT TEMPERS FLARING IN NEW ORLEANS
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) February 24, 2024
Naji Marshall choked Jimmy 😬 pic.twitter.com/Bo3NCItnpF
— Bally Sports Sun: HEAT (@BallyHEAT) February 24, 2024
Adebayo, who finished with 24 points and seven rebounds on 11-of-18 shooting despite a subpar first half offensively, scored 10 of the team’s 22 points in the final frame while serving as the backbone of the Heat’s amoebic zone. He controlled the backboards on both ends and was phenomenal defensively against Jonas Valanciunas and Zion Williamson on the interior, including rejecting Williamson with 4:26 left.
Bam Adebayo’s insane, man. 💥🔐 pic.twitter.com/tfxnFtoO8n
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) February 24, 2024
The Heat ultimately outscored New Orleans 17-4 over their final eight-and-a-half minutes despite Butler’s absence.
Before his ejection, Butler was having three of his best quarters of the season (outside of his free-throw shooting). The superstar wing finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and one block on 7-of-12 shooting.
Herro tallied 15 points, six boards and three assists on 6-of-14 shooting and 3-of-5 from distance. Duncan Robinson tallied 17 points on 5-of-11 from 3-point range in 31 minutes off the bench.
Miami shot 46.3 percent from the floor and 13-of-29 (44.8 percent) from deep. It was dismal down the stretch in the second quarter, but still only allowed New Orleans–on a second night of a back-to-back–to shoot 37.5 percent and 7-of-32 (21.9 percent) from 3-point range.
Williamson led the Pels with 23 points, nine boards and seven assists, albeit on 9-of-22 shooting. Herb Jones was nearly perfect from the floor, adding 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
Especially after losing their best player mere seconds in the final frame, Friday was a pivotal road victory for Miami, who have now won three straight and advance to 31-25.
Especially after tempers flare from all angles, it could be a rallying cry as the team approaches not only the final half of this road trip, but the final 26 games of the regular season heading into mid-April. These could be the types of moments that connect a group and not break them apart.
The Heat will have a two-day rest period before a road back-to-back, beginning with the Sacramento Kings on Monday evening.
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Miami’s Jimmy Butler and New Orleans’ Naji Marshall have been suspended for one game apiece for instigating an on-court altercation, the NBA announced Sunday.
Miami’s Thomas Bryant and New Orleans’ Jose Alvarado were both handed three-game suspensions for fighting and leaving the bench area. Miami’s Nikola Jovic also got a one-game suspension for leaving the bench area and entering the altercation.
Things may get mighty interesting around here.
Current place/record/games behind/last 10 games/remaining schedule difficulty
#2: Cavaliers 37-19 7.5 GB Last 10 games: 7-3 (11th most difficult)
#3: Bucks 37-21 8.5 GB Last 10 games: 5-5 (#6 most difficult)
#4: Knicks 34-23 11 GB Last 10 games: 4-6 (#22 most difficult)
#5: 76ers 33-24 12 GB Last 10 games: 3-7 (#16 most difficult)
#6: Pacers 33-25 12.5 GB Last 10 games: 6-4 (#13 most diffcult)
#7: Heat 31-25 13.5 GB Last 10 games: 7-3 (#26 most diffcult)
#8: Magic 32-26 13.5 GB Last 10 games: 7-3 (#30 most difficult)
#9: Bulls 27-30 18 GB Last 10 games: 5-5 (#23 most difficult)
#10 Hawks 25-32 20GB Last 10 games: 5-5 (#12 most difficult)
what?! Heat got 2 days off then b2b games?! good thing the back end is against the blazers in their turf. ooohhh that’s gonna be a good one
any team that adds holiday and porzingis and doesnt have to give away their two best players is gonna be a champ contender .congrats too danny ainges rerplacement,still think the heat can beat them
Unbelievable that the Blazers wouldn’t trade Dame to the Heat for Jamie, Jovic, Dunc, and Herro because they thought that package wasn’t good enough. Then they basically traded Dame for Time Lord (who got injured after 5 games, no surprise) and Malcom Brogden (who is averaging 15/5/5). As a Heat fan I’ve moved on, but as a Blazers fan I can’t get over how dumb that trade was.
Didn’t they get ayton too, but he plays with no energy, also brogdon is injury prone. So they basically traded for 2 injury prone players and another player with a low motor. I bet they regret that lol.
think ayton was for nuric
yup, they traded Nurkic for Ayton. Fan opinions are split on the Blazers these days. Some people think they’re executing a brilliant rebuilding plan and we just need to be patient. Personally, I think they stink
That trade brought them Ayton, Camara, Williams, Brogdon, 4 first round picks in 2028-2030 period and 1 in 2024…
Brogdon is a solid vet, but the other 3 doesn’t play well or doesn’t play.
This trade success comes down to picks. A lot of them, but mostly 5 years from now.
Injury prone Robert Williams III also included in Jrue trade.
i would have traded the above 4 for holiday before dames time just about done
Ridiculous
Lol we’re gonna go over this again and again but I feel for you for being a blazer fan. And again Portland fo doesn’t want to deal much with the godfather coz they got incensed for simply being the preferred spot of their former star. Also they wanted Bam. Another lol
i think milw fkd up more letting holiday go.i doubt riley was giving up all 4 of those guys anyway for dames time is just about done
What an amazing win, you can literally feel the playoff intensity brimming throughout the game, especially when Jimmy and bryant ejected. We was already missing rozier,jrich, and they was missing Ingram. Also McCollum got hurt, and Jonas too for the person, then herro got hurt for us… so get well soon herro. We played one hell of a defensive game. Pelicans usually score 116 a game and we held them to 95. We had a season high 11 blocks, bam led the way with 3. Also the dunc yard dog and Mr. Martin played some really ferocious D. Both Martin and dunc blocks were nasty too lol. Bam came through in the CLUTCH BIG TIME hitting turnaround fadeaways, and bookshops. Bam was special tonight and so was zion… sheesh he is such a load. Imagine what zion could do in heat culture…. sigh* what a dream that would be. Anyways heat roasted them Pelicans lol.
Zion is good when he is healthy but he is mostly injured. Hadn’t played against Miami since 2020. He missed 135 games the past two years. Not reliable/injury prone like Embiid, George, Leonard, Durant, Ball, etc.
That’s because of his weight mainly, heat culture would get him into better shape. Pelicans let him eat whatever he wants, he’s 6’5 280+ , that too much weight for him. I’m not saying he would be less injury prone for us, but heat would put him on a strict weight program/diet with weekly weigh ins. Instead of avg 35 games a season, he maybe would 45 -55 games with us. His weight is the main issue for being injury prone. But yea you’re right he’s too injury prone.
hes overweight but his style of play hurts his injury prone problem.dont think ive ever seen him just get the ball and shoot a j
His style of play puts to much force on his overweight body, and living in new Orleans with all that food doesn’t help.
yes but when he plays hes unstoppable.hope he stays healthy hes must see
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. “Heat Culture” isn’t going to change a player into someone else. “Heat Culture” is about finding guys that fit the culture and then using it to bring the best out of them.
Yep. I agree.
Yup. Zion wants his cake and eat it toon. In July 2022, the New Orleans signed Zion Williamson to a five-year, $197.2 million max contract even though he had played only 85 games over his first three seasons.
The thing which pans out of this game was, that a lineup with Herro and Dunc defended for 5 minutes without getting a single score.
And the Duncs block on Zion was a highlight of the game.
Amazing.
That will be pretty encouraging to Duncan. If I can do it o Zion, I can do it to any other player. Zion is not just any 280Ibs player, he is quicker than some 220 Ibs player. With all that weight, he is a fast moving freight train!
He was also getting iso’d over and over again by the Celtics in the game before the all-star break and did a great job against Brown and Tatum
just watched the game highlights on yt. i was annoyed with the pels announcers! what the…?!! cnt find Heat broadcast lol. no Jimmy in 4th no problem. JB was just standing when that naji dude pushed him trying to show off as a tough guy? great resiliency from this team when Pels took the lead they kept their composure and took the W! and its 3 straight! then 2 days off? lol hope JB won’t get fined and suspended. lets go 20-7…19 more Ws hehehe
jim actually pushed marshall first manila
Actually, Love wrapped Zion up to keep him from scoring. Zion later said Love didn’t try to hurt him and actually tried to help him up after he fell. Marshall pushed Love because he must have thought Love intentionally threw Zion down. Jimmy slightly pushed Marshall to get him out of the way and Marshall reacted. They both pushed each other then Marshall grabbed Jimmy by the neck and Jimmy did the same. I don’t think anyone should get any suspension, except maybe Alvarado for throwing the haymaker at Bryant and maybe Bryant for retaliating.
Exactly. I watched the re-broadcast and Marshall came in aggressively at Love and Butler gave him a typical ‘back off’ soft shove, nothing aggressive. Then it escalated from there.
I was watching on Sun Sports (or whatever its called now) and they were showing the reply of Alvardo punching T-Bryant, and the funny thing is that right before it happens on the sideline, you can see Love and Zion center court hugging it out
I’m almost as happy with the comments as the win last night. Seems like after a half season of disagreeing on the best way forward for the Heat, we all are pretty much on the same page now. We see our strengths and our few weaknesses. This is a pretty good team with two superstars and some pretty good complementary players, and adequate depth now too. No telling how far we can go. It is too bad Bryant did not adequately fill the role he was given. If he did, we would have an even better chance. I keep hoping for him or ORob to step up and there is still a small chance one will.
correction 1 superstar.bam not a superstar,bam doesnt take games over and single handedly win them for u.his second half last night was superstarish but its not very often bam does that 30.bams an all star not super star.
You mean you don’t notice all the subtle ways the Bam covers his teammates mistakes on defense, and opens up just enough space for them on offense?
Got it.
bam is a superstar on defense just doesnt have that mamba dna on offense
Looks like we just found the nex beef that will fire up Jimmy’s competitive nature. Before it was TJ Warren, next was Grant Williams and now Naji Marshall. I am just waiting for the trash talking online to further incite the fire.
On another side note. Zion really is a beast. His physical gifts makes him a monster in the paint in scoring and rebounding and could become the next round mound of rebound.just need to tweak his mentality.
what mentality? I see nothing wrong in his mentality. He is not a dirty player as far as I have seen him play. Can you clarify what you meant tweaking his mentality.
I think the mentality he meant was being more committed to losing the weight, and staying healthy because they have a great team that can do serious damage in playoffs.
Thanks for the clarification.
Zion is a beast! How a player will miss his shot and still out muscle 3 Heat players for a rebound is crazy.
Haven’t seen the game recap only the scuffle coz its all over fb. That’s not even a hard foul. I think KLove only held Zion down, all 280+ lbs and 10+ years younger of the big guy. But his momentum brought him crashing and definitely no bad intentions for Kevin. And Jimmy shouldn’t have been thrown out. But Heat W!
Naji Marshall was dumb. I have seen hard fouls. That was not a hard foul that leads one to react emotionally in a show of support to your team mate that you have his back. If Jimmy had not reacted, it would have shown how dumb and stupid Marshall was. Jimmy’s reaction clouded everything else.
Naji pushed JB when he was just standing! really dumb!
Tough game against a solid playoff team.
Miami’s success depends on their defensive intensity. If they continue to play solid defense and get everyone back healthy by the playoffs, they will be able to do damage.
It was evident again tonight that Miami needs a big two-way PF or C to share the paint, defense and rebounding responsibilities with Bam. He’s great for his size, but can’t compete with big, physical centers in the paint. Bam didn’t start scoring, rebounding and imposing his will until Valanciunas went out. Hopefully, that weakness is addressed over the summer. If Jovic can put on another 20 pounds of muscle and continue developing his game, next year he may be that frontcourt person the Heat needs. He definitely isn’t ready now.
Meanwhile, I’m glad to see the team playing solid defense and team basketball. Also glad to see the 3 point shooting return. It sure would be nice if they could go 2-1 or 3-0 during the rest of the road trip.
GO HEAT!!!
Agreed.
They needed Jovic for his size, but he wasn’t ready to for a loud road arena with a sniff of playoff intensity. Bryant has size and experience but he can’t keep up with Spo’s system. Love is good off the bench, but you can’t play Bam & Love with Caleb, Highsmith, and Jamie as your PFs.
You can talk about trades if you want, but the playoffs are six weeks away. This team is going to get pushed around in the paint unless Spo can pull a rabbit out of his ass
It is what it is. Precous is a free agent this summer and he sure is tearing it up in NY. After Randall and Robinson return, he may not get as much playing time as he wants or deserves.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/nba-analyst-raises-concern-about-rising-knicks-big-man/ar-BB1iNjOH
I have given up on the Heat getting a big to help Bam. With the signing up of Delon Wright it seems Spo and co have trebled down and dug deeper into small ball all the way to play off. Initially, I thought that Delon Wright was a safety check in case Rozier got hurt during play off. I hope that I am wrong for once this season, all humility thrown out of the window, lol!.
Since Miami didn’t bring in a big before the trade deadline, Spo should take every opportunity to use Orlando Robinson. It makes more sense to use him now instead of Jovic since he will be needed in the playoffs against bigger teams/players. Jovic can continue working on his game and also be available for valuable minutes during the playoffs, if needed. I know it was only G League, but Orlando’s numbers were pretty good.
34.2 MPG, 26.3 PPG, .357 3 PT%, 11.5 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.7 SPG, 2.7 BPG. What does Miami have to lose?
GO HEAT!!!
I agree, but I think orob was out with back spasms, hopefully spo can experiment with orob in the lineup when he back.
Honestly, at this junction, I don’t know what Spo is thinking or not thinking. The twinking and untwinking is very confusing. JJJ as a starter then it is Jovic and then it is not. He has tried Bryant, Orlando, then replaced him with Love and even HHH as a quasi center. I hope he is keeping a book on who complements who in what role. As it may be confusing to other teams’ scouts, so it may be too for Spo. My take is that apart from Bam and Butler, any other player in Heat uniform is a rotational player who starts or may not start based on the other teams line up. For me I will seat back and just watch his experiments.
I think Orlando is out of the rotation. If Spo is going to play a young guy with no experience it will be Jovic, he’s just a better player. I do think Bryant should probably get some minutes in the run-up to the playoffs
Bryant’s defense sucks. That’s why Lakers got rid of him.
He’s a big strong dude and he plays hard. Heat could use a guy like that in the rotation. He must be bad if he’s not playing
That was a really fun game. Choppy at the end. But playoff intensity the whole way. I enjoyed it.
Also, I’m going to say it. I’m going to caps locks it and say it with my chest:
DUNCAN ROBINSON IS A GOOD DEFENSIVE PLAYER
Other than that, not much to add. Good to get a win out of the break. Still a lot of basketball to play before the playoffs. On to the next one
Finally somebody noticed.
Hey there, I’ve been arguing that since the beginning of the season.
I’ve been saying that he’s “improved”. But after this game and the Celtics game, I have to admit what I’m seeing with my own eyes. He’s not just ‘improved’ or a ‘passable’ defender. He’s a good defender that forces talented players into tough shots.
Yes, to clarify, I’ve argued that he’s improved. I don’t know if I’m ready to call him a ‘good’ defender yet, but I’m glad he’s doing considerably better. When I watch games I focus on players like him, Herro, Jovic, and now Rozier. I don’t focus on Bam, Butler, Martin, Highsmith, etc, because I know what they bring. In fact, in his limited minutes against the Pelicans, I thought Jovic played some pretty good defense even though he was giving up 40-50 pounds.
Yeah, true, but with small letters.
OKAY! HAHA!
He has been since the preseason games. So has Herro too, since coming back from last season’s injury.They both committed on working on other aspects of their games in the off season. Man to man and weak side help defense, cutting off passing lanes for steals, cuts and slashing into the paint, screens with Bam, making the extra pass, going down lane etc.It has been a beauty to see the extra dimensions in their games.
oh yeah, don’t get me started on the cutting and passing, it’s my favorite thing about the Heat this season. And I agree, Tyler has also improved his defense. But Duncan looks really good on both ends right now.
Well, it certainly was an entertaining game! A W. Hopefully, Herro isn’t hurt too badly.
Playing without Butler, Herro and Yes, Rozier (first team starters) in the last 4 minutes, the Heat showed it’s true identity in the face of adversity. Spo, well done for building such strength and character in your players. Teams with less character would have crumbled playing an away game.