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NEW ORLEANS — — With Bam Adebayo scoring 26 points, the Miami Heat took a comfortable first quarter lead in a 124-98 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
“I played great basketball the whole game,” said Adebayo, who shot 11-of-15 in about 30 minutes on the court.<\/p>\n
“We always try to get along with each other and I love teammates like that,” added Adebayo. <\/p>\n
Jimmy Butler added 18 points and Gabe Vincent hit four 3-pointers as part of the Heat’s 16-point night. They led without ever trailing, except for his two minutes in the opening to take his fourth win in five games.<\/p>\n
The Heat beat New Orleans 64-48 in the paint and beat the Pelicans 43-37, and that dominance has a lot to do with Adebayo’s play, Heat’s Eric Spoelstra said. <\/p>\n
“Ultimately, we want to involve Bam as much as possible. Spoelstra said, ‘He’s good at getting to the rim and that’s what he was doing tonight.’<\/p>\n
CJ McCallum scored 21 points for the Pelicans. They lost 7 of 10 while playing much of that stretch without star power forward Zion Williamson.<\/p>\n
Jonas Valanciunas tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans to temporarily cut a 19-point halftime deficit to 12 in the third quarter before Miami pulled away again.<\/p>\n
Pelicans manager Willie Green said, “We didn’t come out with the level of urgency needed to play against a good team. We didn’t have that tonight. Normally we do, but we didn’t tonight.” .<\/p>\n
Green said, “This is the time of the season that is Dog Day, so to speak. Every little thing has to be done to make it ready to play.”<\/p>\n
Miami guard Kyle Lowry has returned from a sore left knee that has sidelined him for four games. He played 22 minutes and finished with 7 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.<\/p>\n
“It’s good to be back,” Lowry said. “I’m feeling really good now, so I hope it doesn’t happen again.”<\/p>\n
Spoelstra said Lowry could have played more but didn’t have to push him with the game in hand.<\/p>\n
“His time was really good, especially in the first half,” Spoelstra said, noting Lowry’s early base steals and his overall physical presence on defense. <\/p>\n
Miami took the lead in the first quarter with 20, going 30-10 with Vincent’s 3. The Pelicans responded with his 10-2 run, and Nagy took a foul on his Marshal and drove his layup to close at 33-23 at one point, but Miami didn’t let it close in the first half.<\/p>\n
Vincent’s 3 as the horn blew to end the first quarter kicked off a 12-2 run, and Miami rebuilt the lead to 23 when Max Strus’ 3 made it 54-21.<\/p>\n
“Offensively, Kyle, Jimmy, Tyler and Bam have been incredibly aggressive right from the start. That’s the mentality we should have,” Spoelstra said.<\/p>\n
Miami scored the most points in the first half of the season against New Orleans, 70-46 on Tyler Herro’s finger roll.<\/p>\n
A 3 banked by Alvarado in the final seconds of the half pulled New Orleans to 70-51. <\/p>\n
tip in<\/p>\n
Heat: Strass has 16 points and 10 assists. … hero he scored 14 points. … Caleb Martin and Orlando Robinson scored 10 points each. … five straight victories, three of which were in New Orleans. … In the first half he shot 59.2% (29 of 49) and in the end he shot 53.2% (50 of 94). … He made 12 of his 35 from 3-point range.<\/p>\n
Pelicans: Pelicans coach Willie Green chose to use his challenge when Alvarado was called for a defensive foul on Caleb Martin’s drive in the second quarter. Officials ruled that the elbow was a “natural act” and that Alvarado’s blocking foul was valid. … Herb Jones sat with a birthmark on his lower back. … Williamson missed eight straight games with a strained right hamstring. …Brandon his Ingram missed 26 straight games with a bruised left big toe.<\/p>\n
Citable<\/p>\n
Spoelstra grinned when he said Strus’ 10 assists were likely “his most at any level”.<\/p>\n
Strauss said that’s about right.<\/p>\n
“I’ve never passed a ball like that in my life,” he said. <\/p>\n
next<\/p>\n
Heat: Friday night in Dallas.<\/p>\n
Pelicans: Friday night in Orlando.<\/p>\n
——<\/p>\n
AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NBA and https:\/\/twitter.com\/AP–Sports<\/p>\n<\/div>\n