INDIANA Pacers’ Buddy Hield (24) goes to the basket against Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro (14) during the second half last night in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bam Adebayo had 22 points and 17 rebounds and Jimmy Butler scored seven straight points late in the fourth quarter to help the Miami Heat hold off the Indiana Pacers 87-82 last night.
Butler finished with 20 points. The Heat had lost three of their previous four and evened the season series with Indiana by pulling away late.
Buddy Hield led the Pacers with 19 points and nine rebounds - one shy of a double double - and Andrew Nembhard scored 18 as Indiana lost its second straight and for the sixth time in eight games.
It was a rough-and-tumble game in which baskets came at a premium. But Butler finally cranked it up in the closing minutes, his late flurry turning a 77-73 contest into an 84-75 cushion with 2:26 to go.
The Pacers and Tyrese Haliburton didn’t get closer than four again. Haliburton missed all nine of his shots, all six of his 3-pointers and wound up with one point and three assists.
Miami had just enough scoring punch to survive Indiana’s 8-0 run midway through the third quarter that finally gave the Pacers a 62-57 lead and ended the quarter on a 10-2 spurt to take a 67-64 edge before Butler’s late flurry finally put it away. Miami scored 15 straight points in the second quarter to charge out to a 43-28 lead, but the Pacers finished the half on a 13-2 run to make it 47-42.
TIP-INS
Heat: Two-time All- Star Victor Oladipo was welcomed back to Indiana with a highlight reel that played on the video board before the national anthem. Miami improved to 14-49 all-time in Indianapolis. Kyle Lowry had eight points and made a 3-pointer in his 26th consecutive game, the third-longest streak of his career. Adebayo has scored in double figures in 42 consecutive games.
Pacers: NBA commissioner Adam Silver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. attended the game. Indiana has lost two straight home games to Eastern Conference foes after opening the season at 7-1. The Pacers were 11 of 39 on 3s but gave up only nine offensive rebounds two nights after allowing 29 in a loss to Brooklyn.
ON THE MEND
The Pacers could be getting one of their key rotational players, second-year guard Chris Duarte, back soon. Coach Rick Carlisle said the all-rookie team player practiced with the team’s G League affiliate in Fort Wayne yesterday and is expected to play in two games in Wisconsin later this week.
Duarte has been out since November 4 with a sprained left ankle. “After practice today the first thing he said to me is ‘I feel better than I thought I would,’” Carlisle said. “We want him to feel good. We want him to feel great.”
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