Wade, Heat In New Orleans To Face Struggling Pelicans
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NEW ORLEANS (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – The Miami Heat are fighting for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference and have been playing very well of late.
The New Orleans Pelicans acquiesced to the reality of their situation on Sunday and elected to sit injury-riddled star Anthony Davis for the remainder of the season.
The 23-year-old star will watch from the bench when the Pelicans host the Heat on Tuesday.
Davis is battling knee and shoulder injuries and, with the team out of contention in the West despite high preseason expectations, New Orleans will not take any chances with its cornerstone over the final 13 games.
"He's disappointed. He's very disappointed," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry told reporters of Davis. "You know good and well that he loves playing and wants to be good. He feels a huge obligation to try to make this team better, try to get them back to where they were last year – making the playoffs and stuff like that."
The Heat are trying to avoid going back to where they were last year – on the outside looking in when the postseason started.
Miami has a much better outlook right now and is engaged in a four-way battle for the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference with Atlanta, Boston and Charlotte.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Miami), FSN New Orleans
ABOUT THE HEAT (40-29): Miami has its own injury concerns with Chris Bosh (calf) still out indefinitely, but the team is moving forward and is coming off one of its most impressive wins.
Dwyane Wade went over 20,000 points in his career on Saturday as the Heat crushed the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers 122-101 to win for the 11th time in 16 games since the All-Star break – all without Bosh – and bounce back from a loss to Charlotte.
"We're obviously happy we were able to get this win after the (Charlotte loss the) other night," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. "The next three to four weeks are going to be harrowing,"
ABOUT THE PELICANS (26-43): Davis was a preseason MVP favorite and New Orleans was thought to be a team on the rise after sneaking into the No. 8 spot last season and bringing in Gentry from the Golden State Warriors to speed up the offense.
Instead, Davis and the rest of the team has been plagued by injuries since training camp, and Davis will ultimately undergo surgeries to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder and issues with his left knee.
"It's been awful," Gentry told reporters before his team pulled out a 109-105 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. "This is the most frustrating season I've ever been through. It's frustrating for the players, for the owners, for the management, and everybody else. We did not anticipate the season going this way."
BUZZER BEATERS
- Pelicans F Ryan Anderson (groin) and G Norris Cole (back) both sat out Sunday and are day-to-day.
- Heat G Josh Richardson is averaging 16.8 points on 66 percent shooting, including 16-of-23 from 3-point range, in the last five games.
- Davis went for 29 points and 15 rebounds but Bosh countered with 30 and 10 as Miami won 94-88 at home over New Orleans on Dec. 25.
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