Herro scores 32, Adebayo nears triple-double and Heat never trail in 119-108 win over Pelicans

Updated Jan. 1, 2025 9:58 p.m. ET

Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — Tyler Herro scored 32 points, Bam Adebayo flirted with a triple-double and the Miami Heat beat the New Orleans Pelicans 119-108 on Wednesday night.

Adebayo finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists for Miami, which got 17 points from Duncan Robinson.

Trey Murphy III scored 34 for the Pelicans, who played on the same day that at least 15 people were killed in New Orleans when a truck drove into a crowd of New Year's revelers on Bourbon Street in an attack that President Joe Biden described as “despicable.”

The Pelicans — who never led — lost for the 29th time in their last 32 games and are 1-20 in their last 21 contests.

Takeaways

Pelicans: CJ McCollum scored 22 for New Orleans, and Murphy's 34 points tied for the third-most by a Pelicans player this season. McCollum had 36 on Dec. 12 and Murphy had 35 on Dec. 27.

Heat: Jimmy Butler, in his first game following a five-game absence because of illness, had nine points, four rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes on 3-for-5 shooting. Miami is now 12-9 in games where Butler plays this season.

Key moment

Herro missed his first four 3-point attempts, then threw a terrible alley-oop lob that he intended for Butler late in the first half. The pass went in — for three points, which technically became the first of five straight makes for Herro from beyond the arc.

Key stat

The Pelicans have dropped 15 in a row on the road. It's the 100th time in NBA history that a team has had a road losing streak of 15 or more in the same season.