Dragic’s late basket helps hold off the Pacers

MIAMI — This was another example of the relentless exercise that the top of Eastern Conference has become.

Even without sidelined Malcolm Brogdon and Victor Oladipo, the Indiana Pacers pushed the Miami Heat to the limit Friday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, before the Heat pushed back for a 113-112 victory secured on a Goran Dragic basket with 6.8 seconds to play.

After splitting a pair of previous games with the Philadelphia 76ers, who visit Saturday night, losing in Boston, winning in overtime in Toronto and winning in overtime in Milwaukee, the Heat got their latest lesson in just how intense this six-team free-for-all at the top of the East has become.

“It’s really competitive,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the East race. “And you have to like this. You have to really enjoy this as a competitor. People have disparaged the East for so long. You have some really good teams here in the East.”

The victory improved the Heat to a league-best 14-1 at home.

“We always find a way,” Jimmy Butler said after leading the Heat with 20 points.

Duncan Robinson added

18 points for the Heat and Bam Adebayo closed with an 18-point, 15-rebound double-double.

Down nine earlier, the Heat moved to a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter, with the Pacers then moving back ahead

103-102 midway through the final period, as Butler waited to check back in.

Consecutive baskets by Robinson and Butler later put the Heat ahead 109-108 with 2:21 left, with an Adebayo layup later putting the Heat up 111-110.

With a chance to extend their lead, the Heat instead were whistled for an offensive foul on Butler with 1:10 left.

The Heat followed with another defensive stop, with Butler then off with a driving layup that spun out, before a driving floater by T.J. Warren put Indiana back up 112-111 with 30.8 seconds to play.

Off a wild scramble that included a pair of Heat misses, Dragic then scored his 9-foot shot to close out the scoring.

“His head coach was about to call a timeout on that,” Spoelstra quipped. Dragic was glad he didn’t. “It was just crazy plays going on,” he said of the scramble.

A miss by Indiana’s Aaron Holiday followed, as time expired.

“We knew it would be a grind,” Spoelstra said.

Five degrees of Heat from Friday’s game:

1. Lining it up: At 2 of 8 from the field through three quarters, Butler still had

18 points going into the fourth with his 14 of 15 from the line. At that stage, the entire Indiana roster was 8 of 10.

Along the way, Butler created personal foul trouble for Pacers center Myles Turner, whose four fouls in the opening three periods all were created by Butler.

In addition to his 20 points, Butler added nine rebounds and six assists.

Of Dragic’s winning play after his miss, Butler said, “That’s why we talk about do not give up on a play.”

2. Boom, boom, pow: After a pair of 3-pointers in the first half, Robinson converted three in a row early in the third period to move to 100 conversions for the season.

The franchise record is

227 by Wayne Ellington in

2017-18, with Robinson reaching 100 in the Heat’s

31st of 82 games. Robinson became the fastest Heat player to 100

3-pointers, with the previous record of 35 games by Damon Jones in 2004-05.

He closed 6 of 10 from beyond the arc.

3. Bam Bam: Adebayo recorded his 19th double-double, surpassing the total of 18 he had over his first two NBA years leading into this season.

The effort came against Turner, who was selected over Adebayo for a place on last summer’s USA Basketball World Cup roster.

Adebayo augmented his double-double with six assists.

“You could feel his intensity,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo. “It was inspiring.”

4. Airplane Mode: Derrick Jones Jr. was at his dunking best in the first half, with three dynamic throwdowns, including a reverse alley-oop finish off a pass from Tyler Herro.

That dunk was followed by an acrobatic block by Jones on the opposite end.

What Butler couldn’t simultaneously activate was his 3-point shooting, missing all three of his attempts from beyond the arc in the first half.

5. Silva lining: The most meaningful moment of the night came after the Heat’s pregame walkthrough, when rookie forward Chris Silva was surprised by his mother, Carine Minkoue Obame.

The game was the first time Silva’s mother had seen him play in college or the pros.

Silva left his native Gabon when he was 16, a twoweek trip home the only time with his mother in the interim. It was the first time he had seen his mother in three years.

On a two-way contract, Silva broke into tears when he spotted his mother, with the moment recorded by Heat TV, saying, “That’s my mother,” with Spoelstra waving her onto the court as teammates cheered.

“It was one of the most special moments I’ve been part of,” Spoelstra said.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stepped in to arrange the reunion through the league’s Africa initiative.

“This goes right to my heart and makes the holiday special to me,” the Heat forward said, with a video of the surprise shown during Friday night’s third quarter.