Bam Adebayo scored 30 points and Kevin Love added 15 third-quarter points as the Heat downed the Pacers 124-111 in NBA Cup action Friday night in Indianapolis.
Love scored 13 straight points early in the third quarter as the Heat opened the second half on a 28-12 run, stretching a six-point halftime lead to 22 before the midway point in the third quarter. Love scored all 15 of his points in the third quarter, which were 15 of the Heat’s first 20 points in the second half.
The Pacers answered with a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to 10 points with 2:48 remaining in the third, but that was as close as they got for the remainder of the game.
Obi Toppin scored a team-high 21 points off the bench and Tyrese Haliburton added 18 points and eight assists for Indiana, which has lost three of its past four games.
Tyler Herro scored 20 points on 6-of-16 shooting, while Haywood Highsmith added 14 for Miami, which came into the game having lost four of its previous five.
The Heat evened their NBA Cup record to 1-1 with the win, while the Pacers fell to 0-1 in Group B of the Eastern Conference. Miami played without Jimmy Butler, who missed his third straight game with an ankle injury he suffered in Nov. 8 in the Heat’s win over the Denver Nuggets.
The Pacers led 29-26 after the first quarter, but trailed 61-55 at halftime as the Heat outscored them by nine points in the second quarter. Haliburton beat the first-half buzzer with a crafty layup, cutting the Pacers’ deficit to six points at the break.
Haliburton led all scorers with 16 points in the first half, shooting 6-of-12 from the field and 4-of-8 from three. Herro led the Heat with 14 points before halftime.
Miami shot 45-of-87 (51.7 percent) from the field in the game, including 15-of-42 (35.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Pacers shot 14-of-35 (40 percent) from three-point range and finished 44-of-86 (51.2 percent) from the floor. Indiana outrebounded the Heat 39-36 but had 20 turnovers as a team.
–Field Level Media
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