New Orleans Pelicans: 2 Strategies to beat the Miami Heat on Christmas
By Nick Alvarez
Looking at what the New Orleans Pelicans can do to beat the Miami Heat on Christmas Day
In my opinion, the New Orleans Pelicans were lucky to start their season off with a win against the Toronto Raptors. They essentially gave their opponents the game in the first half, and if it wasn’t for a remarkable second-half turnaround, we’d be much lower on the team today.
Understanding that, it’s a quick shift for the Pelicans who now have to face the Miami Heat tomorrow on Christmas day when the entire world will be watching! Fortunately for the Pelicans, they’re facing a Miami team that closely resembles the team they just beat in the Raptors.
This Miami team is tough and physical, but they emphasize the same play that the Raptors do. The Heat wants to shoot the lights out from beyond the arc, and then confuse their opponents with a hybrid man-zone defense.
The only problem is, this team is better than the Raptors, as indicated by their recent NBA Finals appearance. They have shooters who are truly elite in Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson, and one of the NBA’s best wings in Jimmy Butler. To top it all off, the Heat have Bam Adebayo patrolling the paint.
Now the question becomes can the Pelicans learn from their mistakes against the Raptors, and use them to beat the Heat? Let’s have a look!