The Miami Heat kicked off the NBA's traditional Christmas Day schedule with a 111-98 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Last term's beaten finalists bounced back from a defeat in their opening fixture of the new campaign with a comfortable win in their first regular season game at their home arena since March.
Duncan Robinson equalled an NBA Christmas record with seven three-pointers. He hit four in the first quarter and added two more in the second as the hosts raced out to a 23-point lead.
Duncan Robinson ties the #NBAXmas record with 7 made three-pointers! pic.twitter.com/BmHXViraXk — NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) December 25, 2020
New Orleans fought back to within six points in the fourth quarter, but Miami rallied to close out the victory.
Robinson top-scored for the Heat with 23 points, while Goran Dragic added 18 and Bam Adebayo had 17.
Zion Williamson, the number one pick in the 2019 draft, scored 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in his maiden Christmas Day appearance but it was not enough to prevent the Pelicans suffering a first loss of the campaign.
Back-to-back buckets where @Zionwilliamson just bullies everyone on the floor pic.twitter.com/AmD7JJ0AF1 — New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) December 25, 2020
The Milwaukee Bucks also recorded their first win of the season as they comprehensively beat the Golden State Warriors 138-99.
Milwaukee narrowly lost to the Boston Celtics in their season-opener but responded with an impressive display in their home opener.
Khris Middleton led the way with 31 points, while back-to-back league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 15 points and claimed 13 rebounds.
All-time bucket getter.@StephenCurry30 passes Rick Barry for 2nd on the franchise all-time scoring list. 👏 pic.twitter.com/DmUIkNOR4q — Golden State Warriors (@warriors) December 25, 2020
Steph Curry had 19 points for Golden State, which moved him up to second in the franchise's all-time scoring list.
Rookie James Wiseman added 17 points but the Warriors suffered a second successive heavy defeat to start their campaign.
