There’s no better way to celebrate Christmas than with a Miami Heat win, especially against a talented young New Orleans Pelicans team. The Pelicans started this game off strong. They even cut an eventual Miami 23-point lead to six in the fourth quarter. However, Miami went on a 18-7 run to close the game with a win, their first of the new season.
With all that said, here are four takeaways from Friday’s win over New Orleans.
Duncan leads the way
There is a reason why Pat Riley is hesitant to include Duncan Robinson in any trade packages. Robinson again showed why on Christmas Day, hitting an NBA Christmas record six first-half three-pointers. He finished with seven made threes for the game. If he keeps this up, he is going to be looking at a huge payday in 2021.
Just your average afternoon for @D_Bo20
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 25, 2020
23 Pts / 7 👌’s / 5 Rebs pic.twitter.com/6IHTJd1xSJ
Robinson ended the night with 23 points while shooting seven of 13 from downtown.
Precious continues to impress
It’s early but Precious Achuiwa has shown he is NBA-ready so far. He guarded Zion Williams and Brandon Ingram and held his own at times. His activity on both ends was key to the Heat’s victory. Achuiwa played so well that Miami left him on the floor to finish the game. It’s a very good sign that Erik Spoelstra is trusting him quite a bit so far.
Achuiwa finished with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one block.
Goran keeps team afloat
The game swung big when Goran Dragic entered, as he did a great job of controlling the pace of the game. The way he played, you would not think he was 34. He provided needed scoring relief and was also a good distributor, picking up six assists in the first half. His best play of the night was the behind the back finish late in fourth.
You won’t find a drive and finish better than this 🐉 pic.twitter.com/afr1mofSI5
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 25, 2020
Dragic ended the day with 18 points, a game-high nine assists, and a game-high four steals.
Butler goes down
Miami’s best player, Jimmy Butler, did not play in the second half because of stiffening in his sprained right ankle. With Butler out, one can tell the type of impact he has on the team. While his defensive presence was needed, he is extremely important to the team’s offense. When it gets hard to score, Butler has the ability to put his head down and attack. Miami certainly missed that at times whenever Goran was off the court.
Butler ended the day with four points, six rebounds, and five assists.
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