Heat 113, Pelicans 99
NEW ORLEANS -- Reserve center Hassan Whiteside scored a team-high 24 points and Dwayne Wade and Goran Dragic added 23 each to power the Miami Heat to a 113-99 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night at the Smoothie King Center.
In addition to his 10-of-11 shooting for the game, Hassan had 14 rebounds and three blocks to improve the Heat’s record to 41-29. The Heat shot 50 percent from the field after having shot 54.8 percent in a 122-101 victory over Cleveland on Saturday. Amar’e Stoudemire also had 16 points for the Heat.
The short-handed Pelicans (26-44) were led by Jrue Holiday with 24 points and Luke Babbitt with 23.
Miami built a 22-point, third-quarter lead, which the Pelican whittled down to 13, 86-73, at the end of the quarter. But the Heat (41-29) used a 10-3 run to start the final period and led by as many as 18 points down the stretch.
New Orleans scored 13 straight points to cut the deficit to 96-91 with 6:13 left, but the Heat weathered the storm with three consecutive inside baskets, two by reserve center Hassan Whiteside, to regain control, 103-95.
The Heat entered the game having scorched the nets in the last 10 games, and they shot 54 percent in the first half to build a 59-40 lead. Wade led the way with 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting, and Stoudemire added 10.
Miami also buckled down on its defense, holding the Pelicans to 31 percent shooting in the first half. The starting backcourt of Holiday and Toney Douglas were a combined 4 of 24 from the field.
Babbitt was the only Pelican to serve as an offensive threat, scoring 15 points in the first half.
The game was tied at 20 when the Heat closed the first quarter with a 15-1 run. The Pelicans missed seven consecutive shots to fuel the Miami surge.
NOTES: Pelicans F Ryan Anderson sat out his second consecutive game with a double groin injury, and coach Alvin Gentry refused to rule out whether one of the NBA's top bench scorers (17.0 points per game) would miss the rest of the season. "We don't know yet," Gentry said. "That's the thing we're still trying to figure out. The doctors are trying to determine exactly how long that will be." ... Gentry said the Heat are playing great basketball: "As a matter of fact, they're one of the best teams since the All-Star break." Entering Tuesday night's game, the Heat were 11-5 since the break. ... The Heat averaged 113.4 points in their previous 10 games. "I like the energy, I like the engine," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I like how our guys are bringing energy off the ball. We say it all the time -- the ball will find energy."