INDIANAPOLIS —Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 87-82 win over the Indiana Pacers (14-14) on Monday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to begin a four-game trip. The Heat (13-15) continues the trip on Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder:
It wasn’t pretty, but the Heat earned a much-needed win to open an important week and trip.
Fresh off a 1-2 homestand that included two losses to teams at the bottom of the NBA standings in the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs, the Heat knows this upcoming stretch is critical as it looks to stack some wins together after a 12-15 start to the season.
The Heat’s performance was far from perfect and the game was ugly, but it got the result it was looking for.
Despite totaling just 87 points on 38.6 percent shooting from the field, the Heat won behind a strong defensive performance that helped lead to an awful offensive night for the Pacers.
Indiana finished with a season-low 82 points on 35.4 percent shooting from the field and 11-of-39 (28.2 percent) shooting from three-point range. The Pacers also committed 18 turnovers.
It was an offensive struggle for both teams, as they combined for 169 points — the fewest in an NBA game this season.
With the Heat ahead 74-73 with 4:59 to play, it finally took control with a 10-2 run to extend its lead to nine with 2:26 remaining in the game.
Kyle Lowry began the run by making a corner three-pointer. Then Jimmy Butler took over by scoring seven straight points for the Heat to force a Pacers timeout.
Some sloppy play by the Heat down the stretch still made it a close finish, with the Pacers having possession trailing by just four points with 40.7 seconds to play. But Indiana center Myles Turner stepped out of bounds while being pressured by Miami center Bam Adebayo to put an end to the Pacers’ best chance at putting together a comeback.
Both teams went on big runs to get the Heat to its league-leading 19th clutch game. A clutch game is defined as a game that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Heat started strong to pull ahead by as many as 19 points in the first half, but the Pacers closed the second quarter on an 18-4 run to cut the deficit to five entering halftime.
The Pacers carried that momentum into the start of the second half, opening the third quarter on a 20-10 spurt to take a five-point lead over the Heat.
Adebayo ended the night with a team-high 22 points and 17 rebounds.
Butler finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Even in the victory, the Heat’s poor three-point shooting continued.
The Heat entered Monday ranked 22nd in the NBA with a team three-point percentage of 34 percent this season.
That negative trend continued against the Pacers, when the Heat shot just 9 of 34 (26.5 percent) from three-point range in the win.
No team wants to be ranked in the bottom half of the NBA in three-point shooting, but it’s especially concerning for the Heat because it was such a big part of its winning formula last season.
The Heat closed last regular season as the NBA’s top three-point shooting team at 37.9 percent and with a 32-2 record when shooting 40 percent or better from beyond the arc.
The Heat has shot 40 percent or better from three-point range in just three of its 28 games this season — a pace that has them ending the regular season with just nine such games.
The Heat’s bench has among the NBA’s worst to begin the season. But it was a net positive on Monday.
So much of the Heat’s struggles early this season stem from injury issues and an unreliable bench.
In fact, the Heat’s usual starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin and Bam Adebayo entered Monday outscoring opponents by an impressive 9.5 points per 100 possessions in 139 minutes together this season amid the team’s struggles.
It’s what is happening when the starting lineup isn’t in the game that’s hurting the Heat.
Miami entered Monday with the second-lowest scoring bench in the league at 26.1 points per game after closing last regular season as the the NBA’s highest-scoring bench at 40.5 points per game. The Heat’s reserves also combined to enter Monday shooting just 41.6 percent from the field and 30.9 percent from three-point range to post a plus/minus of minus-62 this season.
But the short three-man bench unit of Victor Oladipo, Max Strus and Dewayne Dedmon contributed positive minutes against the Pacers despite combining for just 20 points.
Oladipo (plus-8), Strus (minus-1) and Dedmon (plus-4) combined to total a plus/minus of plus 11 in Monday’s win.
Oladipo returned to Indianapolis to play in a game for the first time since the Pacers traded him away in January 2021.
Injury issues stemming from two surgeries on his right knee in the past three-plus years has delayed that moment, but Oladipo finally made his return on Monday to face his former team.
Oladipo recorded five points, four rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes in his return. It marked his fourth appearance of the season after missing the first 24 games because of left knee tendinosis.
The Pacers played a video just minutes before tipoff to recognize Oladipo’s return. The moment was met by mostly cheers from the crowd.
Oladipo, 30, spent three-plus seasons with the Pacers from 2017-21, with his best NBA season coming during that time. He was an All-Star two times, voted to the NBA All-Defensive First Team and All-NBA Third Team, and earned the NBA’s Most Improved Player award while he was with the Pacers.
Center Orlando Robinson was with the team in Indianapolis for Monday’s game after signing a two-way contract with the Heat on Sunday night.
The Heat waived guard Dru Smith from his two-way contract to bring back Robinson on a two-way deal on Sunday. Miami has alternated between Smith and Robinson as its second two-way contract player alongside two-way contract forward Jamal Cain.
The Heat opened the season with Smith as one of its two-way contract players, then swapped out Smith for Robinson in that two-way spot on Nov. 13, then waived Robinson to bring back Smith on a two-way deal on Nov. 25 before again releasing Smith to bring in Robinson on a two-way contract on Sunday.
These moves by the Heat have largely been based on filling a need while others at their position are injured. But Smith was waived on Sunday with fellow guard Gabe Vincent not with the team in Indianapolis because of a left knee injury.
“Right now, we have a lot of ball-handlers,” coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked to explain the decision to waive Smith despite Vincent’s injury. “It’s just the nature of things right now. It’s very fluid. Gabe will be coming back hopefully sooner rather than later. In the meantime, our ball-handling with Kyle [Lowry], Tyler [Herro], Jimmy, Vic, we feel OK. That also could change in a week or two.”
Robinson provides frontcourt depth, with Heat backup center Dewayne Dedmon battling an ongoing case of left foot plantar fasciitis this season. Dedmon was listed as questionable for Monday’s game, but was able to play against the Pacers.
With Smith released, he’s now eligible to sign a contract with any NBA team but is expected to remain in the Heat’s developmental program as a member of its G League affiliate. While Robinson’s two-way deal with the Heat prevents him from being poached by another team.
Two-way contracts do not count against the NBA salary cap or luxury tax, so the Heat remains about $200,000 away from entering the tax for this season.
“I know there’s been a lot of movement at that position,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s rotating two-way contract spot. “But we still feel great about all of our guys from the developmental standpoint. Dru was really good here. It’s changed now than it was two weeks ago. Right now, we feel like the position of center is a bigger position of need right now. And Orlando has played really well. Everybody has played well so far in Sioux Falls and we’re just excited to hopefully continue to develop all of them.”
The Heat was only without four players for Monday’s game: Cain (G League), Jovic (G League), Vincent (left knee effusion) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle surgery).
