Pelicans rally past Heat 91-87
NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Davis scored 28 points and grabbed a season-high 22 rebounds and the New Orleans Pelicans erased 14-point deficit in the final 15 minutes to defeat the Miami Heat 91-87 on Friday night at the Smoothie King Center.
Jrue Holiday's driving layup put the Pelicans up 90-85 with a minute left and he made a foul shot with 9.2 seconds left to give New Orleans a 91-87 lead. Holiday finished with 22 points and six assists.
Goran Dragic scored a team-high 23 points for the Heat (10-21), who lost for the fourth time in five games. Hassan Whiteside had 10 points and 18 rebounds.
Tyler Johnson drew Miami within 90-87 with a short jumper in the lane, but Whiteside missed two free throws with 16.1 seconds left that would have made it a one-point game.
The Heat (10-21) built their biggest lead of the game, 68-54, by outscoring the Pelicans 19-10 in the first 8 1/2 minutes of the third quarter.
But Davis brought them back, finishing a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer from the right wing over Whiteside, cutting the deficit to 68-64 entering the fourth quarter.
Solomon Hill hit a 3-pointer at the end of another five-point run to start the fourth quarter and New Orleans for the first time at 69-68 since early in the first quarter.
Then, just as suddenly, Miami reeled off the next eight points to go up 77-69. James Johnson was the catalyst, hitting a 3-pointer from the right side and a 10-foot baseline jumper. The Heat held the Pelicans’ scoreless on seven consecutive possessions during the run.
The Pelicans then made the decisive push, outscoring the Heat 12-0 to take an 81-77 lead. Langston Galloway had five points in the surge
Dragic torched the Pelicans' defense in the first half, hitting 6 of 9 shots from the floor, including back-to-back 3-pointers, for 15 points as Miami built a 49-44 halftime lead.
The Miami bench also outscored the Pelicans' reserves 21-9 in the opening half.
Whiteside missed 4 of 5 shots in the first half but pulled down nine rebounds.
Holiday was one of the few Pelicans to assert himself offensively in the first half. He made 6 of 8 shots from the field while the rest of his teammates went 11 of 37 (29.7 percent). Davis had all nine of his first-half points in the first quarter and finished with first half with eight rebounds.
NOTES: Pelicans F Terrence Jones missed the game with nausea and stomach issues. ... New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said rookie G Buddy Hield is making good progress. "I think he's a typical rookie," Gentry said. "He works extremely hard, he puts in the work, he's very coachable and he's gotten better defensively, which is the big jump for every rookie in this league, being able to guard the J.J. Redicks of the world. It's still a matter of him determining shot selection. I don't think he takes a lot of bad shots, but he misses opportunities." ... Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his team's defense was excellent in the second half of a 115-107 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday and needs to continue. "We really have to commit to being our best defensive version of a team that we can be," Spoelstra said. "We have the potential to be a top five or six defensive team. We have to embrace putting our hard hats on."