(Mandatory credit: Miami Heat/X)
Despite the Miami Heat’s inconsistency over the last month, they will go into a needed nine days off from All-Star break with a victory. They took care of business Wednesday night with a 123-111 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on the road.
Miami improved to 29-27 and get back to within just .5 games behind the seventh seed Orlando Magic in the standings. They are also 3.0 games behind the sixth seed, as a post All-Star playoff push is still within striking distance to avoid the play-in if the group can string together a strong finish to this regular season.
Bam Adebayo, who has quietly been dominant ever since the start of the new year, led with a game-high 27 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists versus the Pelicans. He also continues to anchor this Heat defense, adding four blocks on the night as well. The biggest takeaway from Adebayo’s outing was his aggression in getting to the free throw line. He went 13 of 17 on foul shots, as the veteran big man was assertive in attacking the basket and looking to create offense. That’s what this team needs from Adebayo every night.
Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jaime Jaquez Jr. submitted 23 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists to go along with three steals and two blocks in 35 minutes off the bench. Jaquez showcased a true two-way impact in this one and helped supplement Adebayo’s scoring.
After receiving a second straight start, Kel’el Ware helped set the tone early. He made his 7-foot presence known, finishing with a 16 and 12 double-double with two blocks and one steal in 28 minutes. The frontcourt pairing alongside Adebayo was encouraging, as the minutes from those two combined outscored the Pelicans by 33 points.
With Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson and Tyler Herro all sidelined with injuries, coach Erik Spoelstra went with a four-man second unit of Jaquez, Kasparas Jakucionis, Dru Smith and Nikola Jovic. Myron Gardner and Simone Fontecchio received starting nods.
For New Orleans, Zion Williamson dropped an efficient 25 points, along with 19 points from Trey Murphy. However, they got minimal impact from the rest of their rotation scoring wise. The Pelicans did have the shooting edge overall as a team, going 45% from the field and 35% from 3-point range overall to Miami’s 41% and 30%, respectively. But it was the rebounding and paint efforts that gave Miami an advantage, (that’s why you play Ware).
The Heat won the rebounding battle 56-47 and had an 18-9 edge in offensive boards leading to second chance points. They also controlled the basketball nicely, committing just 8 turnovers to the Pelicans’ 13.
Now Miami will receive nine days off to hopefully rest up, get healthy and gear up for a crucial stretch to finish the season strong. Their next game will be Friday, February 20 in Atlanta against the Hawks.
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Garland is a keeper. Sign him up. Lots of energy, excellent rebounder, athletic, good shooter, good driver, pesky defender. Excellent second unit player or reserve to bring in when others are having bad nights.
The team has a chance to rest and heal. Herro may be back after the break, which should make things interesting.
I imagine Riley will try to find a front court player in the buyout market.Ho hum. I hear Mason Plumlee is available. (That was a joke)
Jovic still looks like a fish out of water…like he forgot how to play. If he doesn’t get his game together soon, he will be nearly unplayable. Once the team is back at full strength, he will probably be the first one dropped from the rotation.
Heat playing without Powell, Wiggins, Larsson, Herro and the ghost of “Scary Terry. Glad they were playing a crappy team.
I think the rest is key and hope Bam takes the opportunity to ease up a bit. They’ll have over a week before they play in Atlanta, so time to regroup.
Speaking of buyout market, I would make a run at Mo Bamba. He’s playing well in the G-League averaging 17-11-2 while shooting 39% from 3. He’s still only 27 and clearly has talent. Go save that guy from Salt Lake City.