Heat get key long-range baskets off the bench to go up 2-0 over Pacers in playoffs at Disney
The problem with setting a laser focus against the Miami Heat is how blurry the proposition can become.
The Indiana Pacers attempted to minimize the impact of Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo in Thursday’s Game 2 of their opening-round Eastern Conference NBA playoff series at Disney World.
So the Heat’s 109-100 victory at the Wide World of Sports complex became an uplifting experience for the rest Erik Spoelstra’s team.
“I don’t think there’s one guy that you can just key in on on our team,” All-Star forward Jimmy Butler said. “We have so many guys that can do so many things well.”
So even with Adebayo scoreless for almost the first 30 minutes, the Heat rode the marksmanship of Duncan Robinson, the completeness of Butler and solid contributions from Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro and Jae Crowder to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series that continues Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Robinson closed with 24 points, with Butler adding 18 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and, yes, three more 3-pointers.
There also were 20 points from Dragic, 15 from Herro and 10 points and eight rebounds from Crowder.
Adebayo closed with seven points, assists.
“We just want to make him feel like we had his back,” Crowder said of Adebayo, “and that’s what it’s all about.”
The Heat set a franchise playoff record with 18 3-pointers. The previous record was 16 against the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2018 first round.
The Pacers, who got Victor Oladipo back in their mix after his Game 1 eye injury, got 22 points from Oladipo, 17 from Myles Turner, 17 from Malcolm Brogdon and 14 from T.J. Warren.
“This series ain’t over, man,” five rebounds and four
Duncan Robinson shoots against the Pacers’ Myles Turner. Robinson hit his first six three-point attempts.
Oladipo said. “We’ve just got to make adjustments. We’re down 0-2, but it’s a seven-game series for a reason.”
Five degrees of Heat from Thursday’s game:
1. Duncan can: Robinson made his first six 3-point attempts, setting the tone in the first quarter with his opening conversions coming from 31, 29 and 26 feet. Along the way in the first half, he also converted three free throws when fouled on a 3-point attempt that was off.
At one point midway through the third period, Robinson was up to 21 points on six shots.
His first 3-point miss came on his seventh attempt from beyond the arc, with 6:46 left in the third period.
His seven 3-pointers tie the franchise playoff record set by Damon Jones in 2005 and tied by Mike Miller in 2012.
“We really talked about the first play of the game,’” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. ‘‘We knew it was going to him, and sure enough, it went to him to try to get him going.
“He’s a big part of what they do, and he was able to knock down the first three and just stayed hot from behind the 3-point line all night.‘’
2. Foul start: For just the sixth time this season, Adebayo
was called for multiple first-quarter fouls, forced to the bench with his second with 7:54 left in the opening period.
Adebayo then was replaced by Derrick Jones Jr. That effectively had 6-foot-6 Jones at center, flanked in that grouping by 6-6 Jae Crowder, 6-7 Duncan Robinson, 6-5 Tyler Herro and 6-7 Butler.
When Adebayo returned, the Heat then went big, playing him alongside Kelly Olynyk.
Adebayo went scoreless in his 13 first-half minutes, with just one rebound.
Adebayo’s first points came on a layup with 6:24 left in the third period that put the Heat up 74-61.
But Spoelstra said there still was plenty there, with
Indiana shooting.
“If there’s ever a game where a stat line doesn’t indicate how much somebody impacted winning, that would be the stat line of Bam,” Spoelstra said. “His minutes were so productive when he was out there, particularly on the defensive end.
“But what we’re doing offensively, he’s just allowing us to run offense where it’s not necessarily leading to him scoring.”
3. New weapon: After shooting 5 of 33 on 3-pointers in calendar 2020 prior to these Disney playoffs, Butler is now 3 of 5 from beyond the arc in the first two games of this series.
“This is the time to really limited to .444 hoop,” Butler said of stepping up in the postseason. “I think this when I play at my best, to tell you the truth. I’m just willing to do whatever it takes to win. And right now, it’s making a couple of shots. In the next game, it could be making a couple of great passes without turning the ball over like I was doing tonight.”
4. Healthy returns: Oladipo and Crowder were back in their teams’ starting lineups after Game 1 scares, Oladipo with an inadvertent poke in the eye from Crowder, and Crowder with a twisted ankle.
The Heat again opened with a first five of Crowder, Butler, Adebayo, Dragic and Robinson, with former starting guard Kendrick Nunn again not playing.
More importantly, the Heat again played with a closing lineup of Butler, Adebayo, Dragic, Herro and Andre Iguodala, a quintet that had not played a single minute together until these playoffs.
“Obviously, that lineup has been able to close the last two games,” Spoelstra said. “Defensively, they’ve been good. Offensively, we’ve been able to keep it simple and get it to either Goran or Jimmy to make the plays.”
5. Simple summation: Oladipo on falling behind 2-0, “We didn’t really make the shots that we wanted to make, get the stops that we wanted to get. We have to go back and look at the film and just be better, obviously.”