CJ McCollum drops 30 as New Orleans Pelicans bounce back with dominant win over Miami Heat

The New Orleans Pelicans suffered a tough loss to the Magic in their previous matchup, but they were able to bounce back tonight as CJ McCollum led his team to a 111-88 victory over the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center.

In their previous game, the Pelicans lost All-Star forward Brandon Ingram to a knee injury. It was announced that he would be reevaluated in 2 weeks, so in the meantime New Orleans will have to play without him. The hope is that he’ll be able to return by the playoffs and if that’s the case, this team could make some noise with their talented and deep roster.

CJ McCollum is one of those key pieces for this squad as he finished with 30 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 three-pointers. He carried the offensive load with no Ingram and with Zion struggling this game. Williamson had just 4 points on 2/7 shooting. Trey Murphy III hit 4 triples and ended with 14 total points while Jose Alvarado provided 17 points, 7 boards, and 6 assists off the bench.

Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 17 points and 5 assists. Bam Adebayo recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks while Terry Rozier scored 13 points with 3 made triples. Nikola Jovic had 10 points on 4/9 shooting.

New Orleans improves to 43-27 with this win and now sit just 1 game behind the Clippers for the 4th seed in the West. They will have to play majority of the remaining regular season games without Brandon Ingram but this team has a bunch of depth and offensive firepower that can fill in for his absence. The Pelicans are 8-2 over their last 10 games and will look to build off this win on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons.

Miami drops to 38-32 with this loss and remain the 8th seed in the East. This is not an ideal loss for the Heat as they are looking to move up in the standings to avoid the play-in tournament. They are 4-6 over their last 10 games and will look to bounce back on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.