Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Spoelstra improves to 8-0 on Christmas Day games
The day began with New Orleans Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy sympathizing with Erik Spoelstra spending Christmas morning away from his two young sons. He should have known better. Few do Christmas better than the Miami Heat coach.
With Friday’s 111-98 victory in the Heat’s home opener at AmericanAirlines Arena, Spoelstra improved to 8-0 on Christmas Day, tying the NBA record of Les Harrison for the most wins on the holiday without a loss.
“I wasn’t even aware of that,” Spoelstra said. “It just shows you that we’ve had some really good teams here and teams that have earned the opportunity to play on Christmas.”
With Duncan Robinson doing damage early from the 3-point line, and with Goran Dragic and Avery Bradley playing as closers, the Heat were able to overcome Jimmy Butler’s second-half injury absence to even their record at 1-1 after Wednesday’s season-opening loss in Orlando.
“It always feels better to win on Christmas,” center Bam Adebayo said.
A game after posting uncharacteristic low totals in attempts and conversions in shooting 7 of 20 on 3-pointers in their loss in Orlando, the Heat closed 16 of 37 from beyond the arc.
The Heat trailed by eight early, moved ahead by 23 in the second period, but saw that lead reduced to 66-53 at halftime and then
88-79 entering the fourth quarter.
The Pelicans later closed within six early in the fourth quarter on a JJ Redick 3-pointer, but, from there, 3-pointers by Bradley and Tyler Herro pushed the Heat’s lead to 99-87.
“People see the 3-point shots going in the first half, but we really believe we can win games in an ugly fashion, as well, when shots aren’t going,” Robinson said.
The Heat played the second half without Butler, whose right ankle stiffened up after he sprained it in Wednesday night’s season-opening loss in Orlando.
Robinson led the Heat with 23 points, with Dragic adding 18 points and nine assists, and Adebayo scoring 17.
Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 32 points and a careerhigh 14 rebounds, with Brandon Ingram adding 28 points.
Five Degrees of Heat from Friday’s game:
1. Butler back, then not: Butler was in the starting lineup, after previously being listed as questionable due to a sprained right ankle, but lasted only the first half. He played 16:13, closing the opening two periods with six rebounds, five assists and four points, on 2-of-7 shooting.
He twisted the ankle in Wednesday night’s loss, playing through the injury and closing with 19 points, seven assists and a career-high seven steals in a team-high 35:42.
“It was a group decision,” Spoelstra said of Butler sitting out the second half. “He sprained it in the Orlando game and even in the second half [Wednesday], he wasn’t moving the way he typically wants to, and it just stiffened up. We really felt that the smartest decision right now is not to force it.”
The Heat now have three days off before back-to-back home games Tuesday and Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
2. Going big: Spoelstra moved to a bigger lineup to match up against the Pelicans’ starting power rotation of Williamson and Steven Adams.
That had Meyers Leonard, who was held out Wednesday, opening at center, with Adebayo shifting to power forward. Leonard started 49 games last season.
Rounding out Friday’s Heat first five were Herro, Butler and Robinson.
They were followed off the bench by Dragic, Precious Achiuwa, Andre Iguodala and Bradley, who did not play in the opener.
That shuffled Moe Harkless, Kelly Olynyk and Kendrick Nunn out of the rotation, until Harkless, who started Wednesday’s opener, entered with 5:12 left in the third period, with Butler out of the mix at that point.
“We just felt for this game that it was a better matchup,” Spoelstra said, “and I thought Meyers gave us some really good minutes.”
3. Robinson’s roll: Robinson shot 4 of 5 on 3-pointers in the first quarter, doing it both in the halfcourt and in transition, part of the Heat’s 7-of-12 first quarter on 3-pointers, which helped them move to a 29-26 lead entering the second period.
Robinson then moved to 6 of 8 threes by the intermission, the most 3-pointers in a half on Christmas Day. The Heat kept going from there, up to 13 of 21 by the intermission. The Heat’s 13 first-half threes also were a Christmas Day record.
The Heat, though, then did not record their lone 3-pointer of the third period until a Robinson conversion with 48 seconds left in the period, which tied Robinson for the Christmas record of seven 3-pointers.
Robinson closed 7 of 13 from beyond the arc.
“It’s always nice to see the first one go,” he said. “My teammates breathe a lot of life into me, encourage me and want me to be aggressive. So it makes my job easy, just try to go out there and let it fly.”
4. Dragic in rhythm: Dragic made another statement in his candidacy for the Sixth Man Award, balancing his closing offense with Bradley’s closing defense.
“Dragon is just amazing,” Bradley said of Dragic. “He makes the game easier for everyone.”
Bradley earned plaudits for setting the late defensive tone.
“I wanted to bring him along slowly at the beginning of the year,” said Spoelstra, who instead played the veteran guard 28:27, with Bradley closing with 12 points and four assists. “Those plans kind of went out the window, I guess, tonight or today.”
5. Williamson a load: Williamson recorded his second double-double of the season in as many games, as many as he had his entire injury-limited rookie season. He reached his double-double with 7:03 left in the third period.
Friday’s first half marked the first time Williamson played at least 20 minutes in a half in his career, having been under time restrictions last season while playing under Alvin Gentry.
Of players 20 or younger, only LeBron James (34 in 2003) has scored more on Christmas.
“He just has a super unique, uncommon power and finesse and touch to his game,” Spoelstra said.