MIAMI — Having previously lost to the second to the second-worst team in the Western Conference, the Miami Heat made sure there was no misstep Sunday night at Kaseya Center against the West’s worst.
More to the point, Norman Powell made sure.
So, no, no repeat of the home humiliation against the Sacramento Kings, instead a 125-106 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans that made it five victories in the last six for Erik Spoelstra’s team.
“We definitely had to come out and set the tone,” Powell said.
With Powell converting 9 of 12 3-point attempts on a 34-point night, the Heat improved to 20-16 while the Pelicans stumbled to 8-29. The nine 3-pointers were a career high for Powell.
“I just kept looking at where they were picking me up and letting it fly,” Powell said.
Aided by 26 Pelicans turnovers, the Heat closed with a season-high 18 steals.
“We’re not a toe-to-toe team, per se,” Spoelstra said, “but we can get teams uncomfortable if everybody’s committed to those kind of efforts.”
Beyond Powell’s offense, the Heat also got 19 points from Nikola Jovic and 16 apiece from Pelle Larsson and Kel’el Ware, on a night they remained without Tyler Herro and this time also were without Jaime Jaquez Jr. Ware also had 12 rebounds.
“Loved the offense,” Spoelstra said. “The ball was really moving. I thought the guys were sharing the ball.”
The Pelicans were led by the 27 points of Trey Murphy III, also getting 12 points from Zion Williamson.
Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday night’s game:
1. Game flow: The Heat led 43-39 after the first quarter and 70-62 at halftime.
“It’s pretty easy when you look up at the half and there’s 70 points or whatever it was,” Larsson said of setting a tone.
From there, the Heat pushed their lead to 20 in the third quarter, before going into the fourth up 93-77.
The Pelicans trimmed their deficit to 13 early in the fourth quarter, with Powell and Heat big man Adebayo then returning with 5:51 to play, with the Heat up 111-92.
Order was restored from there.
2. Three for all: The Heat’s first nine shots were all 3-point attempts, including a 4-of-4 start from beyond the arc from Powell and a 3-of-3 start on 3-pointers from Davion Mitchell.
The Heat’s first two-point attempt, with 6:18 left in the opening period, was a driving transition layup by Jovic that was, of course, part of a 3-point play.
And on the Heat’s next possession? Powell was fouled on a three-point attempt, making all three free throws.
The Heat closed 18 of 44 on 3-pointers.
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3. Rotation revision: With Jaquez sidelined by the ankle sprain suffered in Saturday night’s home loss to the Timberwolves, Jovic and Larsson entered together as the Heat’s first two reserves.
Larsson was back after sitting out the previous two games with an ankle sprain.
“The second unit . . . was terrific with their multiple efforts,” Spoelstra said. “It kind of changed the energy of the game.”
It was Jovic who initially replaced Jaquez’s offense, opening 4 of 4 from the field, including 2 of 2 on 3-pointers, with his other two opening baskets a pair of driving layups.
The Heat also cycled through Dru Smith, Kasparas Jakucionis and even Myron Gardner off the bench.
“I like Myron’s energy,” Spoelstra said. “He’s grown on me, he’s grown on the staff, the players in the locker room. I love his personality.”
Jovic closed 7 of 16 from the field, Larsson 7 of 15.
“Pella it’s the human bruise, you know, with all of his activity,” Spoelstra said.
4. Powell’s pop: Powell was up to 20 points by intermission, at 6 of 7 on 3-pointers in the first half.
That was after dealing with leg pain and a blow to the Heat in Saturday night’s loss to the Timberwolves.
Powell extended his streak of games scoring in double figures to 34, dating to last season with the Los Angeles Clippers, one game off the longest such run of his career.
He closed 11 of 15 from the field.
But it was the 12 3-point attempts that Spoelstra noted.
“He should have had 18 attempts, right?” he quipped.
5. Now the road: The Heat next head out on a four-game trip that opens Tuesday in Minnesota and continues against the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
That trip opens a stretch of four of nine on the road.
“We want to do some damage on this road trip and pick up these wins and it’s going to be big for us,” Powell said. “So I thought it was a good starting point for us to go on the road, feeling good about ourselves.”
The Heat’s next home game is Jan. 13 against the Phoenix Suns at the start of a challenging three-game homestand that also includes the Boston Celtics and Thunder.
