The Miami HEAT face the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night at Smoothie King Center. The HEAT defeated the Pelicans 94-88 in their last meeting on December 25. Tip-off is set for 8:00 PM. Television coverage on FOX Sports Sun begins at 7:30 PM. You can also listen to the action live on 790 The Ticket.
1: What did Miami do so well in their commanding victory over Cleveland?
Couper Moorhead: They simply came to play and played the games they’ve had so much success with since the All-Star break. Erik Spoelstra didn’t have to unveil any tricky new defensive coverages for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and the team defended very well even with Cleveland its starting lineup to put Kevin Love at center and James at power forward just before the game began. The Cavaliers did have some success with James setting screens in pick-and-roll situations, but other than that they wound up attacking over and over in isolations.
And offensively, it was again about pace of play. Yes, the team was able to play downhill for most of the evening with Cleveland’s defense making a few mistakes and just about every jumper seeming to go in, but some of that is a residual for getting to the game you want to play and executing.
That may not have been a game we can use for a ton of predictive analysis because Cleveland looked like a team playing the second night of a back-to-back, but that doesn’t take away from it being a great performance.
Couper Moorhead: They simply came to play and played the games they’ve had so much success with since the All-Star break. Erik Spoelstra didn’t have to unveil any tricky new defensive coverages for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and the team defended very well even with Cleveland its starting lineup to put Kevin Love at center and James at power forward just before the game began. The Cavaliers did have some success with James setting screens in pick-and-roll situations, but other than that they wound up attacking over and over in isolations.
And offensively, it was again about pace of play. Yes, the team was able to play downhill for most of the evening with Cleveland’s defense making a few mistakes and just about every jumper seeming to go in, but some of that is a residual for getting to the game you want to play and executing.
That may not have been a game we can use for a ton of predictive analysis because Cleveland looked like a team playing the second night of a back-to-back, but that doesn’t take away from it being a great performance.
Joe Beguiristain: Miami did everything well against Cleveland on Saturday. From the opening tip, the HEAT played pretty stout defense and got a decent amount of fast break points in the first half. While LeBron James had some success running the pick-and-roll with Kyrie Irving in the first quarter, Joe Johnson defended James very well when matched up one-on-one. Thanks to Miami’s strong defense, it raced out to a 21-point lead at halftime that ballooned to 33 at one point in the fourth quarter.
Part of the reason why the HEAT expanded on their commanding lead was because of their three-point shooting. As a team, Miami shot 11-of-19 from distance. In particular, Johnson made some nice plays in transition to either score for himself or find his teammates. In fact, both he and Josh Richardson drilled four 3-pointers apiece. Their ability to make the opposing team pay for turnovers and lackluster transition defense has been instrumental in the team’s improvement from downtown.
In short, the HEAT stuck to their winning formula of making stops on the defensive end, racing out in transition and hitting open 3-pointers within the flow of the offense.
2: Can you explain Josh Richardson’s recent success?
Couper: Well, no. You can explain it mathematically, where Richardson has looked like one of the best shooters in the league for the past few weeks and we can realistically expect the percentages to fall off a bit due to natural regression, but there’s no real explanation for how this run came about other than hard work. Even then, for a rookie who didn’t have a reputation as a lights out shooter coming into the league, this is somewhat unprecedented.
Of course, even as the shooting cools Richardson earned his way onto the court with his defense – a splendid combination of energy, athleticism and consistency. Along with his shooting, Richardson is turning into exactly the sort of role player every team in the league wants. Maybe we don’t need any other explanation other than hard work, either.
2: Can you explain Josh Richardson’s recent success?
Couper: Well, no. You can explain it mathematically, where Richardson has looked like one of the best shooters in the league for the past few weeks and we can realistically expect the percentages to fall off a bit due to natural regression, but there’s no real explanation for how this run came about other than hard work. Even then, for a rookie who didn’t have a reputation as a lights out shooter coming into the league, this is somewhat unprecedented.
Of course, even as the shooting cools Richardson earned his way onto the court with his defense – a splendid combination of energy, athleticism and consistency. Along with his shooting, Richardson is turning into exactly the sort of role player every team in the league wants. Maybe we don’t need any other explanation other than hard work, either.
Joe: This may sound simple, but Richardson’s success can be attributed to all the hard work he’s put in behind the scenes. By now you likely know the story about Coach Spo staying in the gym with Richardson until the rookie hit 70 out of 100 3-pointers earlier in the season. Now, that seems to be commonplace for Richardson, as he mentioned after practice on Monday that he’s always somewhere in the 70's on that drill.
The results of his work on a daily basis are truly astounding, as the 22-year-old is shooting 64.4 percent from beyond the arc since the All-Star break. Johnson, meanwhile, is right behind him at 55.3 percent. Speaking of the 34-year-old, Richardson also stated after practice that he’s been working with the vet in drills. When you pair the former Volunteer’s tremendous work ethic together with his willingness to learn from a player like Johnson, it makes sense that he’s been performing at such a high level of late.
3: How has the season gone for the New Orleans Pelicans?
Couper: It’s been a rough one and it got even rougher on Sunday when the team announced that Anthony Davis would miss the regular season with an assortment of ailments – knee and shoulder injuries among them. Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon and Quincy Pondexter were already out of the rest of the year, Norris Cole has been out with a back injury with no timetable to return and Ryan Anderson missed the team’s last game with a groin injury and is questionable for Tuesday night against Miami. In other words, New Orleans is having worse injury luck than probably even the HEAT did last season.
The one bright spot, other than Davis’ play before gong down, has been the health of Jrue Holiday allowing him to stay on the court for most of the season. He’s been on a limits minute for much of it, but Holiday had made a great impact on New Orleans’ offense that had forced him back into the starting lineup. With so many others absent from the lineup now, Holiday is the man to watch Tuesday night.
3: How has the season gone for the New Orleans Pelicans?
Couper: It’s been a rough one and it got even rougher on Sunday when the team announced that Anthony Davis would miss the regular season with an assortment of ailments – knee and shoulder injuries among them. Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon and Quincy Pondexter were already out of the rest of the year, Norris Cole has been out with a back injury with no timetable to return and Ryan Anderson missed the team’s last game with a groin injury and is questionable for Tuesday night against Miami. In other words, New Orleans is having worse injury luck than probably even the HEAT did last season.
The one bright spot, other than Davis’ play before gong down, has been the health of Jrue Holiday allowing him to stay on the court for most of the season. He’s been on a limits minute for much of it, but Holiday had made a great impact on New Orleans’ offense that had forced him back into the starting lineup. With so many others absent from the lineup now, Holiday is the man to watch Tuesday night.
Joe: It’s certainly been a tough season for everyone involved in New Orleans. The team is currently without Anthony Davis, Ryan Anderson, Quincy Pondexter, Eric Gordon, Bryce Dejean-Jones and Tyreke Evans. Not to mention, Norris Cole may also be out on Tuesday night.
With so many guys hurt, Dante Cunningham took advantage of his extended playing time on Sunday night against the Clippers. In his 40 minutes of action, Cunningham scored 19 points and grabbed six boards on 6-of-10 shooting. The last time he received 40-plus minutes was on March 11 versus the Memphis Grizzlies when he poured in 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. In short, the 28-year-old will likely be more aggressive as he continues to receive more minutes.
For Miami though, it’s all about taking care of business against a team that is dealing with a multitude of injuries. As long as the HEAT neutralize Cunningham and Jrue Holiday, all should be fine.
Game Notes:
- The HEAT have won eight of 11 and are 40-29.
- The Pelicans have won two of three and stand at 26-43.
- Since the All-Star break, Josh Richardson is shooting 64.4 percent from beyond the arc.
- Jrue Holiday is averaging 16.6 points and 6.0 assists per game.
Efficiencies (Rank):
- HEAT Offense: 103.5 (13)
- HEAT Defense: 101.1 (6)
- Pelicans Offense: 103.4 (14)
- Pelicans Defense: 106.7 (26)
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