New Orleans Pelicans Preseason Recap: How they beat the Miami Heat

Game notes and instant analysis for the New Orleans Pelicans’ 114-92 win over the Miami Heat in their preseason opener

The New Orleans Pelicans kicked off their preseason in the best way possible, absolutely owning the Miami Heat, beating them 114 to 92. For those who didn’t get to see the Pelicans in action tonight, or looking for some postgame coverage, here’s my game notes and instant analysis of what went down tonight.

Game Notes:

• Both the Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans were undermanned with Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic out for the Heat, while Eric Bledsoe and J.J. Redick were missing for the Pelicans.
• The New Orleans Pelicans really flashed what their offense will be under Stan Van Gundy, with a slower pace and more set plays.
• Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson all acted as ball-handlers and took the ball up the court, an early trend to watch for this season.
• Much more emphasis on attacking the paint for the Pelicans, with 31 free throw attempts.
• Concerns about 3 point shooting are real, with the team only shooting an okay 12 of 38 from deep. Could just be players finding their shooting rhythm though because they had a lot of opportunities.
• Zion Williamson looks fully healthy, showcasing the quickness we saw from him at Duke
• Nickeil Alexander-Walker pops in the Manu Ginobili role.
• Turnovers were still an issue for the Pelicans as they committed 11 in the game.
• The Pelicans defense was much more focused and engaged, with more communication on that end than they showed last season.
• The team is still struggling to stay in front of their defensive assignment though, something Van Gundy will want to work on more in practice.
• Brandon Ingram looks much more aggressive on defense, wonder if that’s already an indication of how Van Gundy is improving the team.
• Kira Lewis Jr. flashes a unique blend of speed and skill in limited minutes during the second half.
• Zion Williamson (26 pts 11 rebs 2 asts), Brandon Ingram (22 pts 6 rebs 6 asts 3 stls 1 blk), and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (14 pts 5 rebs 2 asts) were my top performers of the night.

Analysis:

We need to keep in mind that this was just a preseason game, and the Miami Heat were playing light after just playing in the NBA Finals 71 days ago. With that being said though, this New Orleans Pelicans team looked completely different than the one we saw last season. Not as fast and free, these Pelicans played with more discipline and control while still being aggressive and attacking the basket more than they did last season. Overall, they showed positive flashes of a team worthy of making the playoffs in 2021, but they need to continue to improve the little errors and work on mastering Stan Van Gundy’s system. Let’s see how they fare on Friday when they take on the Milwaukee Bucks and old friend Jrue Holiday.