NEW ORLEANS — A 29-27 record hardly is optimal at the All-Star break for a team seeking to avoid the play-in round for a fourth consecutive season.
But at least it beats the .500 alternative.
So it is with that record that the Miami Heat into their extended break, after a 123-111 victory Wednesday night over the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center.
Playing in the injury absences of Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Pelle Larsson, Erik Spoelstra’s team bounced back from Monday night’s home loss to the Utah Jazz with an effort boosted off the offensive glass.
Controlling the possession game most of the way, the Heat consistently fought off pushback from the 16-41 Pelicans a game after falling to the 17-37 Jazz.
Both of the Heat’s big men closed with double-doubles, Bam Adebayo with 27 points and 14 rebounds, Kel’el Ware with 16 and 12. Heat also got 23 points from Jaime Jaquez Jr.
But for a night, it was all about Adebayo, who closed 6 of 19 from the field, 13 of 17 form the foul line.
“He was so rugged tonight,” Spoelstra said. “I think he could have drawn probably three, four, five more fouls if they called them. I think there was that kind of force that he was driving with that I think he could have gotten more calls than he did.
“But that’s what we talked about today. This was by any means necessary. We knew guys were feeling a little bit fatigued. A lot of our firepower was on the sidelines or not even here in the building. So quite naturally we were going to lean on Bam even more than we normally do.”
Despite standing as the double-team team focus of the Heat, Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 25 points.
“We needed to get this win, being completely honest, just for momentum,” Jaquez said. “Coming after the break, we know it’s going to be a big push for us and it started with this game. We take that into the break, build on it. And when we come back, just be ready for a big push ahead.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:
1. Game flow: The Heat led 31-25 after the first period and 58-55 at halftime, after briefly giving up the lead in the second period.
Boosted by their offensive rebounding, the Heat pushed their lead to 16 in the third period, before going into the fourth up 96-85.
From there, the Heat moved up 17 with 6:19 to play, only to see the Pelicans move within 112-105 with 4:29 left.
It got shakier from there, with the Pelicans trimming the deficit to 115-109 with 1:41 to play on a pair of Saddiq Bey free throws.
After an Adebayo foul, Williamson took Jaquez to the basket that drew the Pelicans within 115-111, only to see Heat forward Simone Fontecchio respond with a 3-pointer with 53.8 seconds to play for a 118-111 Heat lead.
Adebayo closed the scoring with a pair of free throws.
“I was getting fouled. It’s one of those things where if it isn’t broke, don’t break it,” he said of his relentless path to the foul line. “If I’m getting to the line, keep getting to the line.
“Now everybody can kind of decompress, get away for a little bit and come back ready to work.”
2. And another: Injuries had the Heat opening with a different lineup for the eighth consecutive game, their 20th starting lineup of the season.
This time, it was a late decision with Wiggins, who missed the game due to toe inflammation. Wiggins had the toe wrapped and attempted to warm up, before he was ruled out.
That had the Heat for the second consecutive game opening with their bigger lineup featuring Adebayo and Ware, one rounded out by Davion Mitchell, Fontecchio and Myron Gardner.
Gardner closed with eight points and 10 rebounds.
“It’s a great thing to watch,” Spoelstra said of Gardner. “This guy is just fighting and scrapping for everything and earning everything that he’s getting right now.”
3. The big thing: With little option but to go big, Spoelstra got ample payoff for the approach.
Ware and Adebayo wound up playing extended minutes together, with Nikola Jovic limited to the minimal role that Ware had held as a reserve.
Ware was up to a double-double by the latter stages of the third quarter, with Adebayo joining him in the fourth.
“That gives us a different look and the versatility of being able to play the two of them together and pound the glass on both ends is a weapon for us,” Spoelstra said.
Included in Ware’s rebounding total were seven offensive rebounds, part of the Heat’s 18-9 edge on the offensive glass.
“When me and Bam are both in the game, if not both of us crashing, at least one of us is crashing can make an impact,” Ware said, “like I was doing today, hitting the ball back out so we get more chances.”
In the end, though, Spoelstra opted to close with Fontecchio at power forward, and Ware and Jovic on the bench. Fontecchio ended with 15 points.
4. Doing it alone: With much of the bench rotation reshuffled in order to accommodate the changes with the first unit, a constant off the bench remains Jaquez.
This time he was up to 14 points by halftime, with aggressive early play that included drawing a flagrant foul on Herb Jones in the second period.
Still a work in progress is the 3-point shot, with Jaquez 6 of 8 on two-point shots in the first half and 0 for 4 on 3-pointers.
“He hasn’t had the same juice and pep to his step that he had a month ago,” Spoelstra said. “But he’s the consistent engine for us in that second unit. His ability just to get downhill and create something, and everybody is very comfortable playing or spacing off of his drives.”
5. Now off: The Heat now are idle for their All-Star break until returning for practice on Feb. 18 at Kaseya Center and then returning to action Feb. 20 on the road against the Atlanta Hawks.
“Everybody is looking forward to it because our guys have been really pushing through,” Spoelstra said of the break. “While we’ve had guys out, and we’re not making any excuses about it, but we’ve been pushing for, it feels like weeks.”
In the interim, headed to Los Angeles for All-Star Weekend are Powell (All-Star Game, 3-point contest), Ware (Rising Stars competition), Keshad Johnson (dunk contest) and two-way player Jahmir Young (G League All-Star Game and G League 3-point contest).