Heat go into break over .500 after 123-111 victory vs. Pelicans

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Feb 11, 2026

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NEW ORLEANS – A 29-27 record hardly is optimal at the All-Star break for a team seeking to avoid the play-in round for a fourth consecutive season.

But at least it beats the .500 alternative.

So it is with that record that the Miami Heat into their extended break, after a 123-111 victory Wednesday night over the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center.

Playing in the injury absences of Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Pelle Larsson, Erik Spoelstra’s team bounced back from Monday night’s home loss to the Utah Jazz with an effort boosted off the offensive glass.

Controlling the possession game most of the way, the Heat consistently fought off pushback from the 16-41 Pelicans a game after falling to the 17-37 Jazz.

Both of the Heat’s big men closed with double-doubles, Bam Adebayo with 27 points and 14 rebounds, Kel’el Ware with 16 and 12. Heat also got 23 points from Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Despite standing as the double-team team focus of the Heat, Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 25 points.

Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:

— 1. Game flow: The Heat led 31-25 after the first period and 58-55 at halftime, after briefly giving up the lead in the second period.

Boosted by their offensive rebounding, the Heat pushed their lead to 16 in the third period, before going into the fourth up 96-85.

From there, the Heat moved up 17 with 6:19 to play, only to see the Pelicans move within 112-105 with 4:29 left.

It got dicier from there, with the Pelicans trimming the deficit to 115-109 with 1:41 to play on a pair of Saddiq Bey free throws.

After an Adebayo foul, Williamson took Jaquez to the basket that drew the Pelicans within 115-111, only to see Heat forward Simone Fontecchio respond with a 3-pointer with 53.8 seconds to play for a 118-111 Heat lead.

— 2. And another: Injuries had the Heat opening with a different lineup for the eighth consecutive game, their 20th starting lineup of the season.

This time, it was a late decision with Wiggins, who missed the game due to toe inflammation. Wiggins had the toe wrapped and attempted to warm up, before he was ruled out.

That had the Heat for the second consecutive game opening with their bigger lineup featuring Adebayo and Ware, one rounded out by Davion Mitchell, Fontecchio and Myron Gardner.

— 3. The big thing: With little option but to go big, Spoelstra got ample payoff for the approach.

Ware and Adebayo wound up playing extended minutes together, with Nikola Jovic limited to the minimal role that Ware had held as a reserve.

Ware was up to a double-double by the latter stages of the third quarter, with Adebayo joining him in the fourth.

In the end, though, Spoelstra opted to close with Fontecchio at power forward, and Ware and Jovic on the bench.

— 4. Doing it alone: With much of the bench rotation reshuffled in order to accommodate the changes with the first unit, a constant off the bench remains Jaquez.

This time he was up to 14 points by halftime, with aggressive early play that included drawing a flagrant foul on Herb Jones in the second period.

Still a work in progress is the 3-point shot, with Jaquez 6 of 8 on 2-point shots in the first half and 0 for 4 on 3-pointers.

— 5. Now off: The Heat now are idle for their All-Star break until returning for practice on Feb. 18 at Kaseya Center and then returning to action Feb. 20 on the road against the Atlanta Hawks.

In the interim, headed to Los Angeles for All-Star Weekend are Powell (All-Star Game, 3-point contest), Ware (Rising Stars competition), Keshad Johnson (dunk contest) and two-way player Jahmir Young (G League All-Star Game and G League 3-point contest).