Coup’s Takeaways: Heat Lead Wire To Wire In Earning Professional Win Over New Orleans
1. The New Orleans Pelicans may have come into this game 5-28, with just two victories since November 1, but that record disguises the talent on their roster, however injured it might be.
That talent looked like it might have a bit of an off night on New Year’s Day as Miami jumped ahead to an easy 11-3, the Pelicans barely sniffing the rim as they spent their offensive possessions passing the ball around the horn. If it weren’t for Trey Murphy III it wouldn’t have been much of a game.
Fortunately for New Orleans Murphy III was having one of the better halves any player has had against Miami this season. Miami led by 12 after the first quarter because they had made half of their threes, but New Orleans was still in the game because they had also made half of their threes, most of those coming from Murphy III.
To the Pelicans credit, they stabilized once both sides began filtering through their rotations, Miami’s bench offense stalling out a bit – as a side note, it was interesting to see New Orleans doubling Nikola Jovic in the post before he had even scored down there – as New Orleans reasserted themselves in the paint. Even with those first six minutes, the HEAT found themselves outscored in the paint, 24-22, at the halftime break where they led, 56-51, in what wasn’t a one-possession game because Tyler Herro had accidentally tossed a 30-foot lob meant for Jimmy Butler (making his return) into the rim. Muprhy III had 25 points on 15 shots, only one other player (Brandon Boston with eight) had scored more than four.
Pelicans coach Willie Green called a timeout less than a minute into the second half. You can guess as to whether that meant good things for Miami or not. And yet, the visitors clawed back into the thick of it again, down just three a few minutes later, CJ McCollum starting to work himself downhill. A couple Herro threes, including a tough forward leaner, kept Miami in front, but the Pelicans were firmly attached, answering the call whenever they were at risk of falling behind by too much, Murphy III steadily adding to his total.
Another Herro three eventually pushed it to 11, Miami still at 50 percent from deep as the Pelicans sank below 30 percent, 2-of-13 outside of Murphy III. The HEAT had earned their percentage, at least, earning significantly better looks, and thus their 14-point advantage going into the fourth felt as safe as any 14-point advantage can feel.
New Orleans was neither in it, nor out of it, even as they momentarily closed the gap to seven. No stress down the stretch as Adebayo (23 points on 14 shots) closed it down, Miami taking it, 119-108.
2. Size is not something the Pelicans have in abundance outside of their two main wings in Murphy III (34 points on 24 shots) and Herb Jones, so Miami spent much of this one hunting the size matchups they could find. And there were plenty.
Erik Spoelstra has been giving Nikola Jovic fairly regular reps in the post as far as he’s getting a couple of those touches in most games, and tonight as he shouldered his way into the paint from the mid-post the Pelicans saw fit to send help as Jovic happily found the man left open, Miami working against a tilted defense from there. Jovic has long displayed court vision and passing touch, and while other teams will force him to prove himself as a scorer down low it’s plain to see what he can accomplish should he prove himself an accomplished big-on-small creator.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. worked the matchups as he got into the paint as well. We noted last week that Jaquez Jr., despite his overall efficiency dipping this season due to his outside jumper, has remained effective where he’s strengths are supposed to be – on the drive. There are simply some players, some teams, that cannot keep up with his moves on the move, and though his line may not scream much of anything at you, these are the nights that leave you encouraged that the player he can be is not so far off.
Kel’el Ware took advantage, too, finishing a couple of lobs that the Pelicans had now chance to contest. As Spoelstra has done with many a young center he has kept the ask relatively simple and Ware has responded by doing the simple things, hands up in the paint, targeting rebounds and finishing the passes that demand a finish.
3. One of the better things you can say about Miami tonight is that they really didn’t play their best game and yet they still turned in a high-level offensive game. Sure, it helps that Tyler Herro put up what has become an entirely unremarkable (for him) 32 points on 22 shots – once again he took just one true mid-range jumper – but it was efficiency all the way down for the HEAT, a 125.5 Offensive Rating without much coming in transition as they put up 113.3 per 100 possessions in the halfcourt with 34 assists on 44 makes.
There isn’t much else to say about this one, against a talented but injured opponent dealing with as tough a stretch of basketball as you’ll see most seasons. You want these games to feel under control and out of question, the feeling they give you sometimes as important as anything the numbers will say, and the feeling from this one was nothing but positive. Professional wins come from professional teams.