New Orleans Pelicans at Miami Heat Preview

Game time: Noon, ET

TV: ESPN

Betting line: Heat -4.5

Vitals: The Heat are coming off a 113-107 loss to the Orlando Magic. They committed 22 turnovers. Center Bam Adebayo led the way with 25 points ... Guard Tyler Herro is making his second straight start at point guard ... The Pelicans are led by second-year forward Zion Williamson, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the opener against Toronto ... Forward Brandon Ingram was named the league's most improved player last year ... For the Pelicans, Wenyen Gabriel (knee) and Will Magnay (not with team) are out. For the Heat, Gabe Vincent (shoulder) is day-to-day.

Projected starting lineups:

HEAT

G Tyler Herro

G Duncan Robinson

C Bam Adebayo

F Jimmy Butler

F Moe Harkless

PELICANS

G Lonzo Ball

G Eric Bledsoe

C Steven Adams

F Brandon Ingram

F Zion Williamson

Quotable:

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra – “We haven’t played on Christmas in a long time. It’s an honor to play on the Christmas holiday. A lot of people will be watching. It’s usually reserved for the best teams, the teams that performed and competed from the year before. We feel like we finally earned it again … We’re just really grateful.”

Pelicans guard Eric Bledsoe – “You’re always excited for a challenge, but at the same time, I think we’re just focused on ourselves,” Bledsoe said. “How we can get better individually and as a team. Every game will be different, so we’ll just go in, try to follow the game plan, and for the most important part...compete. Compete out there and give ourselves a chance to win the game.”

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