NEW ORLEANS — With the trio of Jrue Holiday, Josh Hart and Lonzo Ball leading the way, the New Orleans Pelicans snapped a three-game losing streak with a dominant 110-104 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday night in the Smoothie King Center. With the win, New Orleans improves to 27-36 overall on the season.
How It Happened:
Miami took an early lead as Jimmy Butler scored all five of the Heat’s first five points in the game. New Orleans quickly tied it at 5-5 with a three-pointer by Holiday and that was just the start of what Holiday would do on Friday.
The Pelicans controlled the game for most of the first quarter and after a pair of free throws by E’Twaun Moore the Pelicans held a 27-19 lead with 2:46 left in the opening period.
At the end of the first, New Orleans held a 32-26 lead.
Miami managed to cut the lead down to four points after a dunk by Andre Iguodala but New Orleans answered right back with a powerful dunk by Zion Williamson.
New Orleans pushed its lead all the way up to 14 points with 5:13 remaining in the first half. The Pelicans answered every Heat bucket the rest of the quarter and held a 14-point lead at the break.
After Ball’s three-pointer, New Orleans held a 17-point lead early in the third but Miami would respond. Duncan Robinson hit a three-pointer, followed by a driving dunk by Butler and then a jumper by Butler cut the lead down to 10 points.
New Orleans quickly pushed the lead to 18 points after a dunk by Brandon Ingram with 6:28 in the quarter. The Pelicans closed out the quarter with a three-pointer by Frank Jackson and held a 89-74 lead.
With 6:14 left in the game, Miami cut the lead down to only seven points after a 10-0 run capped by a Robinson three-pointer. A few moments later, former Pelican Solomon Hill drained a three-pointer and that was followed by a layup by Derrick Jones Jr. That made it a 97-96 in favor of the Pelicans.
New Orleans would answer as Hart it a three-pointer with 3:33 left but Miami came right down the court and scored again with another three by Robinson.
After struggling from the field, Brandon Ingram came up big in final minute of the game as he scored five points on back-to-back possessions.
With 41.1 seconds left, New Orleans held a 105-100 lead and the Pelican made their free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Big Number: 39
In the team’s last two games, the Pelicans bench scored only 22 and 21 points. New Orleans got a huge boost from the bench in Friday night’s game as the bench scored 39 points.
Players of the Game: Jrue Holiday & Josh Hart & Lonzo Ball
The trio of guards combined to score 54 points. Holiday scored 20 points and 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Hart scored 18 and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds while Ball had 16 to go along with 9 rebounds and 8 assists.
Up Next: New Orleans returns to action on Sunday at Minnesota. Tip is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.