Norman Powell’s game-high 34 points and nine triples lead the Miami Heat to a bounce back victory over the Pelicans.
The Miami Heat returned to the win column on Sunday evening, handling the visiting New Orleans Pelicans with a final score of 125-106.
The Heat have now won five of their last six games and will improve to a 20-16 record. They are now tied for the sixth seed, .5 games back of fifth and 1.0 game behind fourth. New Orleans dropped to 8-29 on the season in the loss.
Norman Powell led all scorers with a stellar 34-point eruption to go along with nine made 3-3pointers, two steals and 11 of 15 shooting overall.
The veteran guard continues to make his case to secure a first-time All-Star honors. Miami outscored the Pelicans by 23 points in Powell’s minutes, tied for the second-best plus-minus on the team with Bam Adebayo and Pelle Larsson.
Adebayo still struggled offensively, going for just 12 points on 5 of 14 shooting, but he still impacted the game defensively and added 6 rebounds and assists, each. Kel’el Ware continues to be effective alongside Adebayo in the starting frontcourt, finishing with a 16 points and 12 rebounds double-double in 25 minutes. That duo held New Orleans’ Zion Williamson to just 12 points on the night.
Tyler Herro was available but didn’t hit the court
Prior to tip-off, it was announced that Tyler Herro was indeed upgraded to available, but did not play as part of his ramp up with conditioning to return from 13 straight missed games with his toe injury. The expectation is that he will make the upcoming road trip with Miami and is still day-to-day— but getting closer.
“He’s been putting in a lot of work. He’s getting closer. This is just more to get the mindset ready for the next step. He’ll be traveling with us, but he’s still day-to-day. I don’t have an exact date when he’ll be ready.”
— Erik Spoelstra on Tyler Herro (via Anthony Chiang)
Off the bench tonight, Nikola Jovic added 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Jovic’s confidence has re-emerged as of late, as the fourth-year forward is starting to carve out a consistent role in the second unit for coach Erik Spoelstra. Additionally, Larsson also chipped in 16 points in impactful bench minutes after returning from an ankle injury.
The Heat came out to a quick start offensively, dropping 43 points alone in the opening period. They finished the game shooting an efficient 46% as a team and 41% from deep. And they got it done on both ends— being active in the passing lanes leading to easy offense with a 19-8 steals advantage overall.
The next game will be Tuesday in a rematch against the Minnesota Timberwolves, opening a four-game road trip.
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