Heat bounce back from Detroit debacle with 124-111 NBA Cup win over Pacers
Published in Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS — This time it didn’t matter whether Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra had a timeout left at the end (he did).
In need of a bounceback after Tuesday night’s horrendous overtime loss in Detroit — decided on a technical foul for Spoelstra calling a timeout he did not have — the Heat got exactly that with a 124-111 victory Friday night over the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Again playing in the injury absence of Jimmy Butler, the Heat got contributions across the board in moving to 2-3 on the six-game trip that ends with a Sunday rematch back on the Pacers’ court.
A game after Tyler Herro nearly singlehandedly carried the Heat to victory in a 40-point performance, the Heat got something from just about everyone.
Herro closed with 20 points, with the Heat also getting 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists from center Bam Adebayo, 15 points from Kevin Love, 14 from Haywood Highsmith, as well as double-figure scoring from Terry Rozier, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic.
With the victory, the Heat improved to 1-1 in NBA Cup stage play, likely needing victories in their final two games of stage play, at home in two weeks against the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors, to advance to the event’s quarterfinals. Results in the event also count in the regular-season standings.
With margin of victory a tiebreaker in the in-season tournament, Spoelstra had Adebayo and Herro on the court almost to the finish.
Five Degrees of Heat from Friday night’s game:
— Closing time: The Heat shot 0 for 7 on 3-pointers in the first quarter and went into the second quarter 29-26. They then came around to go into halftime up 61-55.
The Heat then went up 22 midway through the third period, saw the Pacers close within 10, and took a 98-85 lead into the fourth.
The Pacers kept it within that range through the midpoint of the fourth, before Adebayo stepped up with a pair of 3-pointers, his aggressive play helping put it away for the Heat.
Adebayo closed 10-of-17 from the field, including 2-of-3 on 3-pointers, and 8-of-9 from the line.
— Love story: After his scoreless first half, Love scored all 15 of his points in the first five minutes of the third quarter, shooting 6-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-4 on 3-pointers.
Twice during Love’s surge, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle called timeout, the second time, with 7:02 left in the third quarter, subbing out all five starters.
At that point, Love had turned the Heat’s six-point halftime edge to an 81-64 advantage.
Love eventually went to the bench with 5:18 to play in the third period, with the Heat up 86-67. At that point, he already had tied his career high of four steals.
— The game after: A game after scoring his 40 in Tuesday night’s overtime loss in Detroit, Herro this time struggled to 1-of-5 shooting on 3-pointers in the first half, but otherwise was in attack mode often enough to stand with a team-high 14 points at halftime.
Herro stood at 5-of-5 from the foul line at halftime, already having matched his high for points from the line this season.
Herro tied the Heat franchise record for 3-pointers Tuesday when he closed 10-of-17 from beyond the arc.
— Masked man: Back after being forced out in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s loss in Detroit with a broken nose, Jovic came out in attack mode, with nine points in his first six minutes on 4-of-5 shooting.
Concerned pregame about taking a blow to the form-fitted mask, the 6-foot-10 big man showed no lack of aggression, twice scoring early on attacking drives.
Then, after he converted a second-period 3-pointer, he tugged at the nose of his mask toward Butler, who playfully had donned a mask as he watched from the bench.
Having started the season’s first eight games, Jovic played for the third consecutive game as a reserve, on the floor as the Heat put it away late.
— 5. Butler back?: All signs Friday pointed to a Sunday return for Butler.
After teammates completed their pregame shooting, Butler took to the court with assistant coaches Octavio De La Grana and Remy Ndiaye for an extensive shooting cycle, continuing to work through a pregame dancers’ performance.
Spoelstra declined to comment on the possibility of Butler returning in Sunday night’s rematch against the Pacers.
“I do not have an update, but he’s putting in a lot of work,” Spoelstra said. “That part his coach likes to see. He’s putting in a lot of work, and I like that.”
Butler sat on the bench Friday, unlike during his absences earlier in the week in Minnesota and Detroit.
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