The Miami Heat got a pretty good win on Thursday night. Taking them into their All-Star break as a team with a record of .500, 18-18 and good enough for sixth place currently in the Eastern Conference, they are miles away from where they were just a few weeks ago.
Though the team they beat on Thursday night, the New Orleans Pelicans, were without the guy that most would consider their best player in Zion Williamson, the Miami Heat were without Bam Adebayo, so that made it a pretty even matchup.
The Miami Heat jumped on the Pelicans from the opening tip. They would win the game fueled, in large part, by the efforts of Goran Dragic, Jimmy Butler, and most shockingly, Kelly Olynyk.
Kelly Olynyk finally shot the ball well again for the Miami Heat, but what a time to do it, right?
Coming into this contest, Olynyk had shot 25/83 from deep over his last 15 contest. Yea, that’s bad.
To be exact about how bad it was, he was shooting 30.1 percent. In the grand scheme of things, that isn’t awful, unless you are counted on for spacing that your team absolutely needs and you hoist almost six attempts from outside per game.
Well, on Thursday night against the New Orleans Pelicans and arguably, when they needed it the most without Bam Adebayo, KO came through in a huge way.
He got the Heat off to the start that they needed and helped them all throughout the game. His outside shot, scoring in general, and all the other little things he does were a huge factor.
He finished the game with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists on 7-8 from the field and 4-5 shooting from downtown. It was very interesting when he chose to break out of his slump though.
Appropriately so though, as again, they needed the extra production with Bam out. However, headed into the All-Star break, you hope it doesn’t allow Kelly too cool back off.
This version is the one we need to see all the time. That’s especially when Bam is in the lineup.
Something else to consider about Olynyk’s performance, from a timing perspective, is the fact that he always plays well when the Heat are playing against someone that they could potentially deal with, ironically enough or not. Basically, in a game against a team where a player may be coming back or more importantly, he might be headed out, it seems like he always has an extra little something.
Perhaps It’s just me? There was a similar energy about him versus Sacramento recently.
That time, it was probably the Nemanja Bjelica stuff swirling around. With Lonzo Ball reportedly being on the market for New Orleans, he would be the guy in this scenario but again, there may be nothing to it.
Either way, we are glad Kelly showed up again on Thursday, as they certainly needed it. Let’s hope he can keep his hot hand through the break.