The Miami HEAT defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 81-77 Wednesday afternoon at Thomas & Mack Center in the Samsung Las Vegas Summer League. Briante Weber led the way for the HEAT with 18 points.
1. Weber Does It All
While Weber is known for his defense, that’s not all to the young man’s game. For evidence of that, look no further than his performance against the Pelicans.
From the start, Weber was very aggressive and looked for his shot. In fact, the VCU product converted his first five field goals, with most of those coming from the perimeter.
His biggest contribution, however, would come in the fourth. Weber totaled seven points in the final period, including five of Miami’s final seven points.
Of course, his best play of the flurry was due to his defense.
With 1:30 left in the game, Weber poked the ball away from Buddy Hield and Victor Rudd corralled it. From there, the forward brought it down court and found Weber open on the right wing. The point guard then proceeded to hit the 3-pointer to tie the game at 77.
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In addition to his game-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, Weber also had four steals, three rebounds and two assists.
2. White Keeps Up Strong Play
After showing what he could do against the Suns on Tuesday, Okaro White continued to be sharp.
The forward really started to get going in the second quarter, where he scored eight points. Throughout the contest though, White mixed it up with post-ups, pull-up jumpers and also a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer for good measure. He also had a key put-back layup with 24.8 seconds left to play. In short, his versatility was on full display.
On the flip side of the ball, the 23-year-old showed good defensive instincts. Take for instance this massive block on David Lighty Jr. in the third quarter.
In addition to that block, White tallied 17 points, four boards, two assists, two steals and a team-high plus-14 rating on the afternoon.
3. McGruder Stout Defensively
Rodney McGruder made things very tough for Hield and helped limit him to just 5-of-17 shooting for the game. On the offensive end, McGruder picked his spots and totaled eight points, four rebounds and two assists.
Other Takeaways:
-Fresh off signing with the HEAT, Stefan Jankovic had himself a solid outing against New Orleans. Like Weber, the Serbian was aggressive from the opening tip.
One of Jankovic’s better plays came at the beginning of the second quarter. With 9:45 left in the period, the forward received the ball on the left elbow and patiently backed-down Lighty Jr. He then attacked the basket, absorbed contact from Lighty Jr. and got the bank-shot to fall.
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Jankovic finished with 10 points, six rebounds and a block on 4-of-8 shooting.
Notes:
-Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson sat out.
-With the win, Miami advances to face the Phoenix Suns Thursday at 6:00 PM EST.
