Indiana Pacers Survive Late Miami Heat Push in 117-115 Win

1. First Quarter

With four games left in the regular season, every win the Pacers can get is critical. Tonight’s game would be the most important game of the regular season in a long time. The winner with a clear path to the sixth seed in the playoffs. Indiana opened the quarter by outscoring Miami 18-9 the first six minutes after a Myles Turner layup. With 2:38 left in the quarter, Miami’s Caleb Martin converted a layup to cut Indiana’s lead to 29-22. The Pacers went on a 9-2 run to the end the first quarter with T.J. McConnell, Jalen Smith, and Obi Toppin accounting for the nine points. McConnell’s pullup jumper to end the quarter put Indiana ahead 38-24. Jimmy Butler led all scorers with 9 points. Indiana played nine players in the first quarter and five of them scored. Tyrese Haliburton, McConnell, and Turner each led the team with six points.

2. Second Quarter

After shooting a blistering 66.7% in the first quarter, Indiana came back down to reality in the second quarter by shooting 42.9%. The second quarter started with the two teams matching baskets before Tyler Herro converted Miami’s first three on its eleventh attempt. His triple made it 44-33 with 8:15 remaining in the half. Indiana responded with a 10-0 run to take its largest lead of the game on a Pascal Siakam layup. He and McConnell each had four points in the run. Turner was responsible for the other pair. Indiana’s lead was down to seventeen with 3:02 left in the half. Indiana would go up by 22 points after a Siakam fadeaway jumper with forty seconds left. Miami would score the last five points of the half to trail Indiana 63-46. McConnell’s eight second quarter points made him the first half scoring leader with 14 points. Miami’s leading scorer was Butler with 13 points. Turner at halftime had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

3. Third Quarter

With the way the Heat closed the first half combined with the struggles shooting the three in the second for Indiana, it felt like Miami was going to make it another dog fight. Andrew Nembhard extended Indiana’s lead back to nineteen points after a layup to start the second half. Bam Adebayo converted two free throws to make it 69-57 with 8:09 left in the quarter. Indiana received back-to-back threes from Siakam and Turner to quickly put Indiana back ahead by eighteen points. Miami clawed its way back into this game by chipping away and making it a single digit game after a 11-2 run. Butler capped off the run with a field goal that made it 77-68 with 4:59 left in the third. After a Rick Carlisle timeout, his team scored five points to push the lead back to thirteen points. Miami later cut it to eight points with 2:21 left in the third off after a Caleb Martin three. The Pacers outscored the Heat by five the final 2:21 to be up 91-78 after thirty-six minutes. Butler led all scorers with 21 points followed by McConnell with 18 points.

4. Fourth Quarter

After fending off a couple runs by Miami in the third quarter, Indiana would have to do that the entire fourth quarter too. An Adebayo field goal made it 95-85 with 8:56 left. Nesmith and Siakam each had layup to put Indiana back up by fourteen points. Miami then went on a 16-4 run to make it a two-point game after a Martin field goal. Nikola Jovic was key during that stretch for Miami with six points. With 3:21 left in the contest, Indiana’s advantage was 103-101. After Martin’s field goal, Haliburton converted his first attempted two-point shot. Indiana got a stop and then Nesmith stroked two free throws to go up 107-101. Martin converted a layup to make it a four-point game. Indiana then got back-to-back three-point plays from Siakam and Nesmith that put Indiana ahead 113-105 with 1:25 left. Tyler Herro then scored six straight points for Miami to make it 113-111 with twenty-three seconds left in the contest. Turner went to the free throw line and converted both foul shots. Herro then made another three-pointer to make it 115-114 with seventeen seconds left. Nesmith went to the line and extended his streak to twenty-nine consecutive made free throws to put Indiana ahead by three. The Pacers then fouled Herro with three point six seconds remaining. He made the first and then committed a lane violation trying to miss the second. All Indiana had to do was inbound the ball and they were able to run the clock out to win 117-115.

5. Top Performers

Myles Turner (22p, 13r, 2b), T.J. McConnell (22p, 5a), Pascal Siakam (18p, 8r), Aaron Nesmith (16p, 5r, 3a), Obi Toppin (13p, 3r, 2a), Tyrese Haliburton (12p, 8a, 4r), and Andrew Nembhard (10p, 3s, 2r, 2a). For Miami, Jimmy Butler (27p, 8a, 7r), Tyler Herro (21p, 5r), Bam Adebayo (20p, 12r, 3a), Caleb Martin (20p), and Nikola Jovic (18p). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

6. Notes

• Indiana Pacers win season series over Miami Heat 2-1
• Indiana has now won 4 straight games at home (longest home winning streak this season)
• Indiana now 27-20 against teams above .500
  • Indiana is 18-14 against teams below .500
• Indiana now 2-6 in clutch games after the All-Star game (other win New Orleans)
• Indiana has now held its opponents under 50% shooting in five straight games
• Myles Turner recorded his 16th double-double of the season
  • Pacers 12-4 when Turner records a double-double
  • 6th game with 20+ points and 10+ rebounds
• T.J. McConnell scored 20+ points for the 4th time this season
  • 2 games with 20+ points against Miami
• Aaron Nesmith 15+ points for the 22nd time this season
  • Indiana is 18-4 in those games

7. Next Up

The Indiana Pacers now go on the road for two games. On Tuesday night they will travel to Toronto to take on the Raptors. After two days off, Indiana will take on Cleveland on Friday night. The Kroger Pregame Show with Pat Boylan will start at 6:30pm Tuesday night. Mark Boyle and Eddie Gill will have the play-by-play starting at 7pm.