Bam Adebayo scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the visiting Miami Heat continued their dominance over the New Orleans Pelicans with a 123-111 victory on Wednesday.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 23 points off the bench and Kel’el Ware had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Miami, which has won four straight against New Orleans and 11 of the past 12 meetings.
Simone Fontecchio scored 15 points, Kasparas Jakucionis had 11 and Myron Gardner grabbed 10 rebounds as the Heat won for the second time in three games overall.
Trailing by 17 with 6:18 left in the game, New Orleans used a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 112-105.
After the Pelicans scored six straight points to pull within 115-111 with 1:10 remaining, Fontecchio sparked an 8-0 run to close the game with a 3-pointer on Miami’s next possession.
The short-handed Heat played without Norman Powell (back tightness), Pelle Larsson (right forearm strain) Andrew Wiggins (toe inflammation) and Tyler Herro (ribs).
Miami used its 20th different starting lineup of the season to defeat New Orleans, which had its two-game winning streak snapped. Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 25 points on 12-of-19 shooting.
New Orleans guard Trey Murphy III added 19 points and six assists before exiting late in the third quarter with right shoulder soreness. Saddiq Bey scored 14 points; Jeremiah Fears had 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists; and Bryce McGowens and Derik Queen added 12 points apiece.
Miami sprinted to a 19-6 lead in the opening quarter and held a 31-25 advantage at the end of the period.
Murphy made two free throws to give New Orleans its first lead of the game at 41-40 with 5:34 left in the second period. Miami led 58-55 at the half after closing on a 16-9 run.
Adebayo scored 15 points in the half to lead the Heat, while Williamson had 14 for the Pelicans.
Miami outrebounded New Orleans 17-9 in the third quarter and moved ahead 92-76 on Ware’s 3-pointer with 2:46 left in the period.
The Heat led 96-85 at the end of the third quarter and extended the gap to 112-95 on Nikola Jovic’s layup with 6:19 left in the contest.
