Chris Bosh, Anthony Davis duel as Miami downs New Orleans

The first half today was a total joke outside of AD; it’s a miracle that the team was only down by 4 at halftime. But he missed a contested jumper on New Orleans’ final possession of regulation, and the Heat took control in the extra session.

The Heat won the rebounding battle 57-45 but could do little to contain Anthony Davis from putting his imprint in the game with 29 points and 15 rebounds, with a double-double already secured in the first half. The Pels clawed back in the second quarter, as Davis and Holiday shined, while the Heat couldn’t hit anything, despite a decent number of open shots.

Ryan Anderson turned it on in the second half by knocking in some looks from deep and carrying the Pelicans through some rough stretches in the third quarter.

With the Pelicans having an opportunity of their own to win their third consecutive game, Anthony Davis came up short on a pull-up jump shot as time expired, sending the game into overtime. New Orleans is built around budding superstar Anthony Davis but has been mired with a 9-19 record for the year.

Once Evans and Cole returned to the Pelicans after missing the first 17 games with injuries, it was always going to be hard for New Orleans to find minutes for Ish Smith. That necessitated another timeout 5 seconds later. After trading the lead back and forth in the last couple minutes, both teams airballed potential game-winning shots. “And if you say yes, I expect you to get to the right spot”. This team has gotten used to losing again. The Bostrich is the exact type of player to give Davis troubles on both ends of the floor.

The Heat are now 10-1 when Wade plays on Christmas and only seven players in National Basketball Association history have appeared in more December 25 games than the Heat star.

Head to head, the Pelicans are 13-5-1 ATS in the last 19 meetings overall but just 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings in Miami. The Pelicans scored only nine points through the first nine minutes of the frame. He’s a very good player, on a team not good enough to complement him. Gordon was arguably the Pelicans’ best guard tonight.

Tyreke Evans had a Christmas to forget. Bosh had the biggest performance for his team, arguably, dropping 30 points while grabbing ten rebounds. With each game that passes, it becomes more and more clear that he will never quite fit with Alvin Gentry’s system.

New Orleans will play on national television just eight more times this season, so before you dig into Christmas dinner, turn on the TV and feast your eyes on Davis and the Pelicans. The unit played well, but the Thunder got no closer than six.