Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat hold on
Once ahead by 31, Heat sputter, then hold on for victory
Heat nearly squander 31-point second-quarter lead, hold on to beat Pelicans, 106-101.
MIAMI — This is why the Miami Heat can’t have nice things.
Give them spiffy new Vice Nights jerseys and they lose all six games they wear them before an unscheduled move back Friday night to more staid basic red attire.
Give them a 31-point second-quarter lead and the seemingly easiest night of the season turns into something far different.
The attire was simple this time, the path to victory was not, with the Heat holding on for a 106-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans at AmericanAirlines Arena despite 41 points from Anthony Davis.
With the Heat’s largest lead of the season trimmed to four early in the fourth quarter, it took late 3-pointers from Dwyane Wade, Kelly Olynyk and Wayne Ellington and addition support for the Heat hold on and snap a sixgame home losing streak.
Josh Richardson led the Heat with 20 points, supported by 18 points from Wade and 13 Olynyk.
Davis was supported by 21 points from Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday.
The Pelicans again moved within four with 1:34 to play, at 101-97, before Wade converted a driving layup for a 103-97 advantage. That’s when the Pelicans drew within three on a Holiday 3-point play with 1:12 remaining.
Wade then was off with a 3-point attempt with 59 seconds to play, but Nikola Mirotic countered with a missed 3-pointer on the other end.
A driving layup by Richardson with 26.1 second to play moved the Heat back to a 105-100 edge, with the Heat holding on from there.
Five degrees of Heat from Friday’s game:
1. 2020 vision: Even with a lethargic start that did not result in his first rebound until 6:04 remained in the third period, Davis showed why he is the unquestioned prize of the free agent class of 2020.
As in the first time in years the Heat will have cap space.
Needless to say, the respect was requisite.
“There’s not a book,” coach Erik Spoelstra said going in on defending Davis. “He can do anything you need and then things that you can’t think of, he can do, because of his skill set.”
Or, as Richardson correctly forecast at the morning shootaround, “He’s a guy if he gets rolling it can be very overwhelming for a team.”
2. To the 10th degree: The Heat went in with only 10 available bodies, with Goran Dragic, Tyler Johnson, Derrick Jones Jr. and Dion Waiters sidelined and with Duncan Robinson and Yante Maten in the G League on their two-way contracts.
That left Wade as the only available reserve guard, and Justise Winslow, Olynyk, Bam Adebayo and Udonis Haslem as the only available reserves.
All but Haslem already were in the game by the end of the first period.
Asked if he had concerns about such a short roster, Spoelstra said going in “no concerns.”
Dragic missed his sixth consecutive game with a swollen right knee. Johnson missed his fifth consecutive game with a strained right hamstring.
The latest injury is a hamstring issue for Jones.
“He practiced [Thursday] and it felt a little bit tight after,” Spoelstra said. “But we’ll revisit it, as we always do, every day.”
3. The Bam boost: This is getting a bit redundant, but the boost off the bench from Adebayo has become a staple.
This time there again was a double-digit outing on the boards, his third in the last four games. And of the Heat defenders, Adebayo arguably offered the highest level of deterrence against Davis.
While Spoelstra was limited with his choices, Adebayo worked well in a bigbig alignment alongside Olynyk.
4. Big time: At 59-28 after a Richardson 3-pointer off a Hassan Whiteside assist, the Heat took their largest lead of the season with 2:56 to play in the second quarter.
The Heat’s only previous 30-point lead of the season had come in the home victory over the New York Knicks,
The lead was trimmed to 61-41 by halftime. By the end of the third quarter it was down to 81-75.
Big apparently is not always better.
5. Touching tribute: The Heat coaching staff worked in a variety of colorful blazers, part of the NBA’s Craig Sager Jacket Day in tribute to the late TNT sideline reporter. Details of the effort can be found at http://V.org/donate.