Heat bounce back behind Powell's 34 with 125-106 rout of Pelicans

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Jan 4, 2026

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MIAMI – Having previously lost to the second to the second-worst team in the Western Conference, the Miami Heat made sure there was no misstep Sunday night at Kaseya Center.

More to the point, Norman Powell made sure.

So no repeat of the home humiliation against the Sacramento Kings, instead a 125-106 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans that made it five victories in the last six for Erik Spoelstra’s team.

With Powell converting 9 of 12 3-point attempts on a 34-point night, the Heat improved to 20-16 while the Pelicans stumbled to 8-29. The nine 3-pointers were a career high for Powell.

Aided by 25 Pelicans turnovers, the Heat closed with a season-high 18 steals.

Beyond Powell’s offense, the Heat also got 19 points from Nikola Jovic and 16 apiece from Pelle Larsson and Kel’el Ware, on a night they remained without Tyler Herro and this time also were without Jaime Jaquez Jr. Ware also had 12 rebounds.

The Pelicans were led by the 27 points of Trey Murphy III, also getting 12 points from Zion Williams.

Five degrees of Heat from Sunday night’s game:

— Game flow: The Heat led 43-39 after the first quarter and 70-62 at halftime.

From there, the Heat pushed their lead to 20 in the third quarter, before going into the fourth up 93-77.

The Pelicans trimmed their deficit to 13 early in the fourth quarter, with Powell and Heat big man Adebayo then returning with 5:51 to play, with the Heat up 111-92.

Order was restored from there.

— 3 for all: The Heat’s first nine shots were all 3-point attempts, including a 4 of 4 start from beyond the arc from Powell and a 3 of 3 start on 3-pointers from Davion Mitchell.

The Heat’s first two-point attempt, with 6:18 left in the opening period, was a driving transition layup by Jovic that was, of course, part of a 3-point play.

And on the Heat’s next possession? Powell was fouled on a 3-point attempt, making all three free throws.

The Heat closed 18 of 44 on 3-pointers.

— Rotation revision: With Jaquez sidelined by the ankle sprain suffered in Saturday night’s home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jovic and Larsson entered together as the Heat’s first two reserves.

Larsson was back after sitting out the previous two games with an ankle sprain.

But it was Jovic who initially replaced Jaquez’s offense, opening 4 of 4 from the field, including 2 of 2 on 3-pointers, with his other two opening baskets a pair of driving layups.

The Heat also cycled through Dru Smith, Kasparas Jakucionis and even Myron Gardner off the bench.

Jovic closed 7 of 16 from the field, Larsson 7 of 15.

— Powell’s pop: Powell was up to 20 points by intermission, at 6 of 7 on 3-pointers in the first half.

That was after dealing with leg pain and a blow to the Heat in Saturday night’s loss to the Timberwolves.

Powell extended his streak of games scoring in double figures to 34, dating to last season with the Los Angeles Clippers, one game off the longest such run of his career.

He closed 11 of 15 from the field.

— Now the road: The Heat next head out on a four-game trip that opens Tuesday in Minnesota and continues against the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

That trip opens a stretch of four of nine on the road.

The Heat’s next home game is Jan. 13 against the Phoenix Suns at the start of a challenging three-game homestand that also includes the Boston Celtics and Thunder.

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