Heat caps successful road trip with win over Pelicans
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra cautioned players before the finale of their long trip on Sunday not to lose focus, not to allow dreamy thoughts of home sweet Miami enter their heads.
Maybe they should always forget about Miami, even when there.
The Heat, who have performed poorly at home this season, closed out a successful 4-2 road trip — an 11-day trek that marked their longest on the schedule — with a 102-96 win Sunday over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Heat is now 8-7 in road games but 5-9 at home.
Spoelstra said the recent success is due to the Heat finding a gritty identity. The Heat held opponents to under 100 points in each of the four road wins.
“It doesn’t matter whether we play on the road, at home or on Mars,” Spoelstra said. “It’s committing to this identity of being a junkyard dog, lunch pail, hard hat — however you want to describe this team. This is a road map for our success and we have to commit to that.”
For a team that was teetering before it ventured west, the Heat’s surprising road trip, one that included wins over the Clippers and Grizzlies, could turn out to be season lifting.
Josh Richardson paced the Heat with 22 points but contributions came from throughout.
Dwyane Wade, who missed Friday’s game with a sore lower back, came off the bench Sunday to score 19 points. Hassan Whiteside, who went toe to toe with the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis, scored 17 points to go with 12 rebounds despite — once again — not playing the entire fourth quarter. And rapidly emerging Derrick Jones Jr. had 11 points and eight rebounds.
The tag team of Whiteside and Bam Adebayo held Davis scoreless in the third quarter.
“I think the combination of Hassan and Bam can at least match up with him physically,” Spoelstra said. “He’s so athletic, so big. and incredibly skilled. that he has an advantage over everybody. But at least we have the size and mobility.”
The Heat led 33-28 at the end of the first quarter on Adebayo’s first NBA threepointer at the buzzer. But it was Whiteside, among the Heat’s big men, who had the hot hand early, scoring 11 first-quarter points while having to deal with Davis on the defensive end.
Davis, who scored 40 in the Heat’s win over New Orleans in Miami and is averaging 28 on the season, got his usual points on Sunday. He had 18 with a pair of blocks in the first half to keep it close in the first half.
But Wade, who returned to action Sunday after missing Friday’s game in Memphis with lower back tightness, banked in a 3pointer over Davis as time was running out in the first half to give the Heat a 57-71 lead. Wade knocked down three 3-pointers in the first half.
It wasn’t all good news for the Heat in the first half. They lost Justise Winslow to an ankle injury that put him in the locker room for the second half.
TRADE RUMOR
Wayne Ellington said he was unaware of a Sporting News report that the Lakers might have interest in acquiring him in a trade.
“It’s my 10th year,” Ellington said. “So I’ve seen a lot, heard a lot.”
As of Saturday, Ellington became eligible to be traded, but has the right to refuse any deal.
Ellington is averaging 9.2 points this season but could be coveted as a three-point specialist off the bench. He’s connected on 46 of 124 three-pointers for the Heat this season.
Ellington said he has given no thought to any trade possibilities. Nor has the Heat given any indication they’d be open to dealing the veteran guard.
Asked if he would approve a trade if one was presented to him, Ellington replied: “That’s something I really can’t answer right now.”