Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Off their pace
Heat lose to Indiana, 113-107 in overtime.
INDIANAPOLIS — This time it was up to Miami Heat assistant coach Dan Craig to coordinate the drama, with coach Erik Spoelstra back in South Florida for the birth of his son.
Ultimately, the labor proved difficult — for the Heat — with the Indiana Pacers pulling away in overtime for a 113-107 victory Sunday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
In losing for the 11th time in their past 12 road games, the Heat fell to No. 8 in the Eastern Conference behind the Milwaukee Bucks, who defeated the San Antonio Spurs earlier in the day.
“We had our opportunity,” guard Goran Dragic said.
And, indeed, the Heat did, with forward James Johnson getting to the foul line with 7.1 seconds remaining in regulation and the Heat down one.
Johnson made the first free throw, but missed the second, with a wayward attempt by Indiana’s Victor Oladipo just before the final buzzer sending the game into overtime.
“I was confused,” Johnson said of when the second free throw did not drop. “I know what it feels like when I let it go and it felt good, it really did feel good and I thought we were just going to have to get back on defense and make one more big stop.”
Even before that trip to the line, Johnson was fouled with 14.7 seconds to play with the Heat down one, scoring on a spinning drive. The officials, however, said he was fouled before he gathered for his shot, nullifying the basket.
“We had our opportunity.” Goran Dragic, Heat guard
thought I picked up the ball,” Johnson said, “but I was spinning, so I didn’t get to see what the refs saw. Good call. I’m not saying that’s the reason why we lost the game.”
The reason the Heat lost the game was because Pacers point guard Darren Collison made a pair of late 3-pointers in overtime.
And that drew Craig back into the conversation.
With the Heat having successfully defended Indiana’s pick-and-roll offense by blitzing, Pacers coach Nate McMillan then countered to set Collison free in the corner for his decisive shots.
“Credit’s to them,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. “They made an adjustment in overtime. We were shrinking up the court. They were running a lot of picks and rolls and they starting screening down on the man shrinking from the big guy and he got open a couple of those shots. We had our defensive scheme. Going into overtime they made an adjustment and he made big shots.”
Craig stayed with the approach after the Heat limited Indiana to 14 fourth-quarter points in overcoming an eight-point deficit to force overtime.
“They made some tough shots,” he said. “We really tried to get after them with some blitzes. With the pick and rolls in the fourth quarter, our pick and roll defense was really solid.”
The Heat were led by the 19 points of Tyler Johnson, 15 from James Johntively son, with backup center Kelly Olynyk filling the box score with 12 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
The Pacers got 23 points from Oladipo, 22 from Thaddeus Young and 18 from Bojan Bogdanovic.
The Heat were without center Hassan Whiteside for the eighth consecutive game with what the team is listing as a strained left hip flexor, with Bam Adebayo again starting in his place.
After the Heat’s Josh Richardson dew the Heat with 106-102 with 1:13 to play, Collison converted his two 3-pointers to effec“I end it.
“Basically, they kind of counter-attacked,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said. “They knew that we were going to have both low men down. If the big guy rolls, then, weak side, they were just spinning on screens, so they had wide-open shots in the overtime in the corner. It was really tough to get out. That was a great adjustment for them.
“But you know, we had our opportunity. The ball just didn’t want to go in. But we want to be in this position on the road.”
It ended up as a twogame trip with a pair of close losses to playoff teams, after Friday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Experience,” Olynyk said, “and being in those situations, trusting each other, knowing what to do, what works, that’s what it’s going to be like in the postseason.”