1st Quarter Report
The Heat are on the road but looking no worse for wear. They have jumped out to a quick 31-24 lead against the Pelicans.
If the Heat keep playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 31-25 in no time. On the other hand, the Pelicans will have to make due with a 34-23 record unless they turn things around.
Who’s Playing
Miami Heat @ New Orleans Pelicans
Current Records: Miami 30-25, New Orleans 34-22
How To Watch
- When: Friday, February 23, 2024 at 8 p.m. ET
- Where: Smoothie King Center — New Orleans, Louisiana
- TV: Bally Sports – New Orleans
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $20.00
What to Know
The Heat are 9-1 against the Pelicans since November of 2018, and they’ll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Miami Heat will take on the New Orleans Pelicans at 8:00 p.m. ET at Smoothie King Center after having had a few days off. The Heat pulled off an upset win in their last outing, and are hoping to pull that off once more against the 3.5-point favorite Pelicans.
Last Wednesday, even if it wasn’t a dominant performance, Miami beat the 76ers 109-104. The win made it back-to-back wins for the Heat.
The Heat can attribute much of their success to Bam Adebayo, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 14 rebounds. Adebayo is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he’s now pulled down 12 or more in the last three games he’s played.
Meanwhile, the Pelicans had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.3 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They blew past Houston 127-105. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Pelicans just coasted through the last quarter.
The Pelicans’ win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Zion Williamson, who almost dropped a double-double on 27 points and nine assists. Herbert Jones was another key contributor, scoring 17 points along with seven steals and five rebounds.
Miami pushed their record up to 30-25 with that victory, which was their third straight on the road. As for New Orleans, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they’ve won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a massive bump to their 34-22 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: The Heat haven’t given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 12.2 turnovers per game. However, it’s not like the Pelicans struggle in that department as they’ve been averaging only 12.6 turnovers per game. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Not only did both teams in this Friday’s match win their last matches, they also took care of their bettors and covered the spread. Going forward, the Pelicans are the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 3.5 points. Miami might be worth a quick bet since they’ve covered the spread the last five times they’ve played.
Odds
New Orleans is a 3.5-point favorite against Miami, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Pelicans as a 3-point favorite.
The over/under is 220 points.
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Series History
Miami has won 9 out of their last 10 games against New Orleans.
- Jan 22, 2023 – Miami 100 vs. New Orleans 96
- Jan 18, 2023 – Miami 124 vs. New Orleans 98
- Feb 10, 2022 – Miami 112 vs. New Orleans 97
- Nov 17, 2021 – Miami 113 vs. New Orleans 98
- Mar 04, 2021 – Miami 103 vs. New Orleans 93
- Dec 25, 2020 – Miami 111 vs. New Orleans 98
- Mar 06, 2020 – New Orleans 110 vs. Miami 104
- Nov 16, 2019 – Miami 109 vs. New Orleans 94
- Dec 16, 2018 – Miami 102 vs. New Orleans 96
- Nov 30, 2018 – Miami 106 vs. New Orleans 101
