Tyrese Haliburton combined 33 points with a season-high 15 assists without a turnover to steer the Indiana Pacers to a convincing 128-115 win over the host Miami Heat on Thursday night.
The Pacers were untroubled from the outset as Haliburton set the tone with a 16-point, five-assist first quarter. In three meetings with Miami this season, Haliburton has 36 assists and one turnover.
Myles Turner scored 21 points and Pascal Siakam posted 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Rookie Kel’el Ware contributed a career-best 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting and added three blocks in 21 minutes off the bench for the Heat. He scored 18 in the fourth period.
Bam Adebayo finished with 20 points and eight rebounds, Tyler Herro added 17 points and Terry Rozier had 16 points and seven assists.
Jimmy Butler started with a layup in the opening seconds, but that was his only score of the first half. It was also the only time Miami had the lead, as Indiana reeled off the next 12 points, then went on another 12-2 run en route to a 38-25 cushion going into the second quarter.
Clinical at both ends, the Pacers shot 7-of-15 from deep and attacked the paint with precision, going 8-of-8 inside the arc in the opening period.
Adebayo and Herro stemmed some of the bleeding for the Heat in the second, but not enough to prevent them from being outscored 28-25 for the quarter to trail 66-50 at the break.
It got worse for the Heat when they coughed up 41 points in the third quarter as Indiana’s advantage ballooned to 107-83.
Haliburton continued to facilitate expertly, chalking up 12 points and six assists for the period, while Turner added 11 points, hurting Miami inside and outside.
The Pacers hit 16 of 24 from the floor and 7 of 12 from long range for the quarter.
Rookies Ware and Keshad Johnson piloted a spirited 11-1 run, helping the Heat close the gap to 12 midway through the fourth, before Indiana went on a 9-2 burst to snuff out any chance of a comeback.
–Field Level Media
