Takeaways from Miami Heat’s Victory over the Pelicans

Photo via Heat.com

The Miami Heat had their starters back together for the 15th time this season. They took on a shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans team missing their two all-star players. Still, it was business as usual. Miami dominated the game on both ends from start to finish. New Orleans tried to come back and was able to trim Miami’s lead to 14. However, Miami continued to push their lead before eventually sealing the victory. With the win, Miami moves to 25-21 for the season. Here are my takeaways from Wednesday’s victory.

All-NBA Bam

Bam Adebayo continues to show his improvement on the offensive end. He’s not only making a case for the all-star team he’s also making a strong case for the All-NBA team. Adebayo got going early in the game. His teammates kept finding him out of the pick and roll action. With the Pelicans bigs playing drop coverage, you knew the Heat were going to get opportunities in that action. Adebayo’s pull-up jumpers were falling at a high rate on Wednesday night. When those shots are falling, it’s usually a long night for teams. Defensively, Adebayo continued to wreak havoc on that end. In the end, Adebayo finished with 26 points and eight rebounds.

Gabe Back in Bench Role

With Kyle Lowry back, Gabe Vincent was back in a familiar role off the bench. And he played well on Wednesday. Vincent continued to shoot well off the ball. He even hit two buzzer beaters from the behind the arc. Miami has been getting a healthy dose of Vincent shooting the past couple of games. This is the Vincent the Heat needs the rest of the way. He’s currently trending in the right direction. Whenever the defenses are packing the paint, it certainly helps when Vincent is hitting those catch and shoot three-pointers. Vincent finished the night with 16 points.

Consistency! Consistency! Consistency!

Could the Heat finally be picking up momentum? It seems like we have been asking that question all season long. However, this is probably the first time they have been healthy all season. With a full roster, it allows players to revert back to their usual roles. Hopefully, this team can continue to trend forward. Throughout the year, we seen this team pick up huge wins and lose against lesser teams. Now, with a harder schedule, it’s time for them to push forward. It starts on Friday with Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks with Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics following behind them.

Trade Rumors

With the NBA trade deadline approaching, this is the time of the year where NBA rumors happened. And there was one pertaining to the Heat on Wednesday. According to Sean Deveney, the Heat reportedly discussed a deal with the Atlanta Hawks that would have sent Duncan Robinson, Caleb Martin and a protected first round pick to Atlanta in exchange for John Collins. Miami is looking to bolster their frontcourt alongside Adebayo. Collins is owed $25 million in each of the next two seasons with a player option in 2025-26 season. There’s also questions about the potential fit with the roster. But we’ll see what happens.

Next Up: The Dallas Mavericks. The game tips off at 7:30pm eastern.