Heat win 6th straight grab No. 4 seed in East
Miami has seven players score in double digits in victory at Indiana.
“Balanced” is the word
INDIANAPOLIS — the Heat like to use to describe their offensive attack.
That balanced attack was on display Wednesday, with seven Miami players finishing with double-digit points, as the Heat (24-17) defeated the Pacers 114-106 at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse to run their winning streak to six games, including back-to-back games. Miami beat Toronto on Tuesday night.
“It’s great, because no one person has too much pressure on him,” Josh Richardson said of Miami’s offensive approach. “It’s like every night, somebody else is going to be playing great. So if it’s not your night, then there’s five other guys who could pick up the slack for you, so it’s always very relaxing to be able to play like that.”
All of Miami’s wins during the streak have come by single digits. Miami owns the fourth-best record in the Eastern
Conference, one full game ahead of the No. 5 Washington Wizards (23-18)
Miami led by as many as 16 points, but Indiana made it interesting late and even tied the game at 97 with 5:09 remaining. But the Heat closed the
game on a 17-9 run to keep their winning streak alive.
Wayne Ellington hit the big- gest shot of the game, getting a friendly roll to sink a 31-foot 3-pointer to extend Miami’s lead to six points with 23.2 seconds to go.
“It was very friendly, that’s why I said, ‘I must be living good,’” Ellington said of the shooter’s bounce. “But that goes with how we’re playing right now. Togetherness. It’s like a karma to it. That’s how I feel.”
Goran Dragic had a teamhigh 20 points and nine assists to lead Miami and Hassan Whiteside also played a big role with 16 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks. Hear are our five takeaways: What a difference a year makes: After 41 games last season, the Heat were 11-30. After 41 games this season, the Heat are 24-17. That’s a big difference considering Miami’s core has pretty much remained the same. Another impressive fact? The Heat are 54-28 over their past 82 games.
“We ’re not satisfied,” Whiteside said. “We’re looking at No. 1 (in the East). We’re going to keep trying to push and we’re going to keep pushing the rock. That’s what we call it. We call it ‘pushing the rock.’”
Heat beating another team with 3s: There are a lot of different factors that went into Wednesday’s Heat win. But threes played a huge part. Miami outscored Indiana 39-3 on 3-pointers. The Heat shot 13 of 30 from 3-point range, while the Pacers made just 1 of 18. This is becoming a trend for Miami, which has used the 3-pointer more than ever this season. The Heat shattered their record for 3-point shot attempts in a single season with 2,213 last year, which easily surpassed the previous mark of 1,865 set in 1996-97. Miami is on its way to setting a new record, as it is on pace to attempt 2,566 3-pointers this season.
Tyler Johnson is tough: Tyler Johnson was expected to miss a second consecutive game with a strained left shoulder, but he played and contributed 15 points, five rebounds and two assists to the victory. With three days off before the Heat’s next game Sunday against the Bucks, he will have time to rest the shoulder after playing through the pain in Indi- anapolis.
Dragic is leading the way: Just one night after a masterful 24-point performance against the Raptors that also included 12 rebounds and four assists, Dragic had 20 points and nine assists. With backcourt mate Dion Waiters still out with an ankle injury, Dragic has been able to turn his game up a notch. During the Heat’s six-game winning streak, they have outscored opponents by 42 points with Dragic on the court. It’s not a surprise that Miami is playing its best basketball while Dragic is playing his best basketball. He’s that important to the Heat’s success.
The angry Spoelstra: We’ve seen a lot of it lately. Spoelstra entered Wednesday leading NBA coaches with six technical fouls this season, and he extended that lead when he was called for a seventh technical for arguing that an inbounding violation was ignored in the first quarter. Entering Wednesday, only six players in the league had at least seven technical fouls: Draymond Green (11), Kevin Durant (8), DeMarcus Cousins (8), Dwight Howard (7), Markieff Morris (7) and Russell Westbrook (7). Dragic leads Heat players with two technicals this season.