Pacers Cruise Past Heat

After recently accumulating enough wins to put the team over .500, the Miami Heat are facing a minor setback after losing two games in a row. The Pacers tallied a blowout victory over a Heat team that blew past them in last season’s playoffs. The Pacers scored a total of 137 points on the night, setting a season-high for the team.

Top Performers

Former Rookie of The Year Malcolm Brogdon only missed two shots in the process of scoring a game-high 27 points. The 5th-year point guard knocked down seven 3-pointers to contribute to a 58.4% team field goal percentage. Although Miami has held all teams to the lowest shooting percentage this year, the Pacers had their second most efficient scoring output of the year. Indiana also received an impressive effort from big-man Domantas Sabonis, who recorded 13 points and 15 rebounds.

Heat center Bam Adebayo scored 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting in an attempt to keep Miami alive in the tough loss. Team leader Jimmy Butler also put together a solid performance with 17 points and 8 rebounds. However, the former Eastern Conference champions didn’t receive much help from anyone else. Second-year guard Tyler Herro scored 13 points on an abysmal 4-15 shooting. Although Kendrick Nunn has had a notable sophomore campaign, the Oakland alum scored just 7 points on the night. However, the team received an encouraging 16 point performance from guard Goran Dragic. The 13-year veteran has been a reliable spark off the bench since his return from an ankle injury.

Bam Adebayo keeps calm postgame after the Heat’s 27-point loss to Indy: “In the beginning of the season, we were at the bottom of the East, and we went to the #4 seed. We just lost 2 games. So, I mean, we’re okay…no need to worry.”

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Future Notes

Former NBA champion and 17-year veteran Trevor Ariza logged his first minutes as a member of the Miami Heat on Friday night. The lengthy forward hasn’t seen any game action this year, so it appears that the team is giving him limited minutes to ease him back into action.

Miami will look to avenge Friday night’s loss when they take on Indiana a second time on Sunday at 1:00 PM EST.

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