The New Orleans Pelicans are an absolute dumpster fire right now on a 10-game losing streak and without injured All-Stars Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson as they visit Miami on New Year’s Day Wednesday.
The Heat are home heavy favorites on the NBA odds in Week 11.
| Spread/Total Subject to Change: Heat -9 (total 218) Expert Prediction: Heat 110, Pelicans 103 |
How to Bet Pelicans at Heat Daily Line NBA & TV Info
When: Wednesday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Kaseya Center
TV: NBA League Pass
Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
Radio: Tunein.com
Why Bet on New Orleans?
The Pelicans have been ravaged by injury but even that’s no excuse for a brutal 5-28 mark and a 10-game losing streak following a 116-113 home loss to the Clippers on Monday. With the Pelicans trying to tie the game, L.A.’s James Harden adroitly fouled rookie center Yves Missi, whose 12-point, nine-rebound and five-block performance was tarnished by his missed free throw that could have tied it at 114 with 4.3 seconds left.
Officials prematurely blew the whistle because they thought Missi’s foul shot missed the rim. They called for a jump ball at center court after video review. Ivica Zubac won the tip back to Harden, who made two more free throws with less than two seconds remaining to complete his 27-point performance. New Orleans’ CJ McCollum shot from half court and hit the front rim.
CJ McCollum
McCollum was quite good otherwise in finishing with 33 points and four assists. McCollum set a new season high in threes made with eight while posting his fourth performance of the season with 30 or more points. He became the 28th player in league history with six career games or more of making eight-plus three-pointers.
Dejounte Murray
Murray totaled 13 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and six steals. Murray set a season high in rebounds while matching his season-high mark in steals. He has now recorded at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists in 12 outings this year. Trey Murphy finished with 18 points, six assists and four rebounds as his streak of five straight games with at least 21 points ended on Monday.
Injuries
New Orleans again played without injured All-Star forwards Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, neither of whom will return this week, along with back Jose Alvarado and reserve forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Alvarado hasn’t suited up since sustaining the left hamstring strain Nov. 11 but might in this one. He has appeared in 11 regular-season outings thus far, during which he has averaged 10.7 points, 4.5 assists, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals across 25.6 minutes per.
Willie Green
Could the Pelicans make a change at head coach soon? Nothing will happen for Green until the roster is healthy. Green says head of basketball operations David Griffin has been supportive to this point.
“He’s been great,” Green said of Griffin. “Just staying consistent with hoping our guys continue to get better. We understand the uphill battle that we face as a group with the amount of injuries that we’ve faced this season. Trying to have different lineups, shuffling guys in and out of the lineup. That’s what we are facing this year. Griff’s been great and been supportive. We’ll continue on that path as we progress.”
Green has used 17 different starting lineups, but the fourth-year head coach has repeated the same group in each of the past eight games of Murray, McCollum, Herb Jones, Murphy and Missi. The current configuration is the only New Orleans starting unit that has been together more than three times in 2024-25. No combination has registered more than one victory.
Yves Missi
Among all NBA rookies, Missi is ranked 1st in double-doubles on the season with seven, first in rebounds per game at 8.5 and third in blocks per game at 1.3. Not only is Missi dominating against other rookies, he is ranked 2nd in the NBA in offensive rebounds per game (3.9). Jones is averaging 2.0 steals per game, which is ranked 4th in the NBA, and 4.4 deflections per game, which is ranked 3rd.
^Pelicans at Heat Daily Line NBA provided by MyBookie
Why Bet on Miami?
The Heat won for the third time in four games on Sunday, a 104-100 upset at Houston in a game that involved a fight as Miami guard Tyler Herro was thrown to the ground by the Rockets’ Amen Thompson with 35 seconds left and the Heat leading 99-94. Players and coaches from both benches then came onto the court. Both players were thrown out along with Rockets guard Jalen Green, coach Ime Udoka and assistant coach Ben Sullivan. Terry Rozier was also ejected for Miami.
Houston led 92-85 after Fred VanVleet’s layup with 8:10 to play, but the Rockets missed their next 11 shots, allowing Miami to tie the game when Herro found Haywood Highsmith for a 3-pointer with 4:47 to play. Herro’s jumper with 1:56 to play put the Heat on top for good. He finished with 27 points and nine assists before the late ejection.
Tyler Herro
Herro has made at least one three-pointer in 64-straight regular season games, the second-longest streak in team history. Herro has currently scored at least 17 points in 25-straight games, just the third player in team history to have a 17-point streak at least that long, joining only Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. It’s also the last streak of at least that long since LeBron James accomplished the feat in 2012.
Nikola Jovic
Jovic produced one of his best games of the season with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Jovic was back on the court after sitting out Saturday’s loss to the Hawks with a sprained ankle. He hit a crucial 3-pointer that gave Miami a four-point lead with 47 seconds remaining.
Jimmy Butler
All-Star Butler didn’t play either Saturday or Sunday for conditioning after missing the Heat’s three games previous due to a stomach bug, and he’s now expected to return on New Year’s Day against the Pelicans. There have been a lot of rumors about Miami trading Butler as he will opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer.
The six-time All-Star Butler prefers a trade out of Miami ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline, and that he’s open to trade destinations such as the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets. However, Heat president Pat Riley has said that Butler isn’t being traded. The 35-year-old is averaging 18.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists this season. Josh Robinson and Duncan Robinson both sat Sunday and are day-to-day. Richardson has currently connected on his last 34 consecutive free throws dating back to last season, the longest such streak of his career.
The Heat have held opponents to under 100 points eight times this season, all wins. Miami is a perfect 8-0 when outrebounding their opponents this season. Bam Adebayo is just three points from 8,000 career.
New Year’s Day Game
Wednesday marks Miami’s 10th New Year’s Day game in franchise history, recording a 6-3 record in their previous nine contests, outscoring their opponents by an average of 22.3 points in those six wins. The Heat’s 6-3 (.667) record on the holiday ties for the fifth-best in NBA history. Additionally, Miami is 5-1 (.833) at home on New Year’s, tying for the fourth-best for any team at home.
^Pelicans vs Heat Series History
This is the first of two matchups this season and they split last year, with each team winning on the road. Miami has won seven of its last eight against New Orleans. The Heat are 26-21 all-time versus the Pelicans during the regular season, including 17-7 in home games.
^NBA STANDINGS UPDATE ‼️
— NBA (@NBA) December 31, 2024
▪️ NYK wins 8th straight
▪️ CLE wins 7th straight
▪️ PHI wins 4th straight
▪️ LAC wins 3rd straight, moves to 5th in West
Download the NBA App for more: https://t.co/pBKIAWOrdI pic.twitter.com/tLjQBet0Qe
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2022 Heat vs Pelicans
Thursday afternoon is the NBA Trade Deadline, but the New Orleans Pelicans already made their big move by acquiring 20-point scorer and borderline All-Star CJ McCollum from Portland on Tuesday. McCollum should make his Pelicans debut Thursday vs. visiting Miami, which will be favored on the NBA odds if at full health.
How to Bet Miami at New Orleans NBA Odds & TV Info
- When: Thursday, 7:30 PM ET
- Where: Smoothie King Center
- TV: NBA League Pass
- Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
- Radio: Tunein.com
- NBA Odds: TBA (Heat will be favored)
Season Series
Miami leads 1-0, winning 113-98 at home on Nov. 17. Jimmy Butler had a triple-double of 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. With Miami without starters Bam Adebayo (bruised left knee) and Kyle Lowry (rest), Butler shot 10 of 12 from the field and made 10 of 12 free throws. The Heat shook off a rough start and outscored Pelicans 68-46 in the second half. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 24 points, Brandon Ingram added 19 points and Josh Hart finished with 18 points for the Pelicans. Only Ingram is still with the team.
Miami has won six of the last seven overall against the Pelicans and leads 22-20 all-time but is 6-14 on the road.
Why Bet on Miami?
Miami enters the final game of a season-long six-game, 11-day road trip. It’s the Heat’s 32nd road game of the season, the most road games in the NBA.
The Heat have won three straight and are atop the Eastern Conference. They come off a 121-100 rout at Washington on Monday. The difference was 3-pointers. The Heat shot 18 for 32 (56.3%) from long range while the Wizards were just 7 for 31 (22.6%). Miami, which never trailed, went on a 22-1 run to take a 98-70 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Bam Adebayo accumulated 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Over the past five games, he’s averaged 19.2 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.2 blocks. Jimmy Butler finished with 19 points, four assists and three rebounds.
Gabe Vincent finished with 16 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Vincent helped fill the void of Tyler Herro (knee soreness). Per 36 minutes, Vincent is averaging 14.0 points, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Shooting 38.5 percent from three on 4.9 attempts per game, Vincent has carved out a role in Miami’s rotation. Herro is listed as probable for this game. Herro has scored a team-leading 905 points this season, already surpassing his previous single-season high of 815 in 2020-21. Additionally, he has made a team-leading 336 field goals, also surpassing his single season high of 307 in 2020-21.
The Heat are holding teams to 104.4 points this season, the fifth-lowest in the NBA, and are 18-1 when holding teams under 100. Miami is 21-1 when shooting at least 40 percent from three-point range and a perfect 13-0 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
The Heat made a minor trade Wednesday, sending reserve KZ Okpala to Oklahoma City for a 2026 second-round pick. Okpala was averaging just 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game when he actually did play.
Why Bet on New Orleans?
The Pelicans definitely got better on Tuesday when they acquired Portland guard CJ McCollum as well as forwards Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell for Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Didi Louzada and a few draft picks. McCollum, who is averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds this season, gives the Pelicans a reliable backcourt option who can hit from long range.
He has hit at least 165 3-pointers in the past six seasons and is averaging 3.2 makes from deep this season on 38.4%. McCollum ranks seventh in 3-pointers made across the league since that 2015-16 campaign. The Pelicans are making less than 33% from 3-point range this season and they are 29th in the league in 3-pointers made. Nance won’t debut for New Orleans in this game as he’s hurt but Snell might off the bench.
The Pelicans are No. 10 in the Western Conference, which puts them in the mix for the Play-In Tournament at season’s end. After starting 1-12, the Pelicans (22-32) have won four straight, including a 110-97 win against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday. Rookie Herbert Jones had 10 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals. It was Jones’ first double-double of his career and he has amassed 13 steals over his last seven games. Jones is one of three NBA players to lead his team in both total steals and total blocks this season, along with Robert Covington and Nikola Jokic.
On Monday, Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played between Jan. 31-Feb. 6. In three games played, Ingram averaged 27.3 points, 9.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.3 blocks while committing just five total turnovers. He had 26 points in Tuesday’s win. n Ingram is one of two NBA players to average 22-plus points, five-plus assists, 5.8-plus rebounds and three or less turnovers per game, along with Kevin Durant.
New Orleans has been cleaning up on the offensive glass this season, ranking 4th in the NBA in offensive rebounds per game (11.5), leading to the Pelicans scoring second-chance opportunities. The Pels are tied for 10th in the NBA in second-chance points per game (13.9).
Expert Prediction
- Heat 109, Pelicans 107
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