So far this season, no team in the NBA has played fewer home games than the Miami Heat.
However, over the final 25 games, the Heat will be home for 17 of them, including Friday night when they are set to host the Indiana Pacers.
“It felt like we haven’t played here in forever,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Miami beat the visiting Atlanta Hawks 131-109 on Wednesday.
“But it’s set up for a really fun March. None of it is guaranteed just because we’re home, but it could be a lot of fun.”
If the season ended now, the Pacers would be in the playoffs as the fourth seed from the Eastern Conference. The Heat sit in eighth place — good for a play-in game — and five games out of the final guaranteed playoff position behind the surprising Detroit Pistons.
Spoelstra cautioned that the Heat — just 13-11 at home this season — can’t be too eager to make up the lost ground.
“We can’t get all these wins in one night,” Spoelstra said.
It helps, though, that the Heat have a tough-minded center in Bam Adebayo, who averages 16.9 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. He played Wednesday against the Hawks despite calf and back injuries and scored 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds.
“Bam was banged up, but it shows how much he wants this,” Spoelstra said. “He was a force of nature with his physicality, effort, voice, spirit — all of that.
“There are a lot of guys who would’ve sat out with the back (injury) or the calf, but we felt this was a must-win (game).”
The game against the Pacers is big, too, and Heat guard Davion Mitchell is excited. On Wednesday, he played perhaps his best game in his brief tenure with the Heat, scoring 20 points.
“It’s super important,” Mitchell said when asked about the Pacers game. “We will need the fans. We need everyone’s support.”
Mitchell shares the backcourt with Tyler Herro, who leads the Heat in scoring (24 points) and assists (5.7).
Meanwhile, the Pacers are coming in off a home win on Wednesday, beating the Toronto Raptors 111-91.
Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton had a spectacular performance with game highs in points (33) and assists (11). He also had a game-high-tying three steals, and he shot 12 of 15 from the floor and 7 of 9 on 3-pointers.
The Pacers, who have won two of three games against Miami this season, do have an injury concern heading into the contest on Friday.
Backup point guard T.J. McConnell has missed two straight games due to a sprained right ankle.
When healthy, McConnell usually sparks Indiana’s second unit, averaging 9.8 points and 4.5 assists. He has an ability to get into the lane and do damage as evidenced by his 54.4 shooting percentage on two-pointers.
If McConnell is out, the Pacers will rely even more on their starting unit – Haliburton, Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam, Aaron Nesmith; and Andrew Nembhard.
Siakam leads the Pacers in scoring (20.3) and rebounds (7.3). Turner averages 15.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and a team-high 1.9 blocks.
Then there’s Haliburton, who averaged more than 20 points and more than 10 assists in each of the past two seasons, earning All-Star honors in each. This season, his numbers have decreased (18.4 points, 8.7 assists).
“There’s been a lot of unnecessary pressure on Tyrese,” Turner said Wednesday. “He took his licks at the beginning of the season when everyone was talking crazy about him. He has weathered the storm.
“When he gets hot, it’s a fun night.”
–Field Level Media
