The Heat gets turned up in Miami! Last night the Heat looked liked the NBA champions they are, being down 37-22 to the Indiana Pacers mid second quarter but outscoring them 77-50 the rest of the way. Entering game 3 of the series the Pacers and Heat were tied at a game a piece with the Pacers losing home court advantage. Although, entering this game the Pacers were an astonishing 5-1 on the road this series will be a tough one as the Miami Heat have been looking like a well oiled machine.
Entering the first quarter the Heat looked to be in trouble as Roy Hibbert and David West were dominating the paint, earning a combined 19 points at the end of the first . Pacers lead Miami 21-14 and looked strong going into the second. Opening the second quarter the Heat woes continued. Pacers Luis Scola gave life from bench adding 8 points. Scola and Lance Stephenson combined for 13 points giving Miami a tall mountain to climb. Mid second quarter after a Heat timeout and being down 37-22 the Heat turned it on, playing 4 minutes with pure defensive basketball by getting 4 steals and closing the gap 32-38. Closing the second quarter Dwayne Wade scored 8 points and LeBron adding another 6 and ended the half with a 20-4 run and only trailed 42-38.
If you watched the beginning of the game you wouldn’t believe the heat were only down 4 entering the third,it looked like the Indiana Pacers were about to go 6-1 on the road. But once again “momma, there goes that man”, Dwyane Wade gave a spectacular performance in the second half starting by scoring 6 points in the first 3 minutes. Along with LeBron James and Mario Chalmers combined 6 points, the Heat were only down by one 51-52. After a Pacer time out, the final 7 minutes of the third quarter was back and fourth between the one and two seeded teams. The Heat ended pulling away with a LeBron and Wade three point jump shot closing the quarter leading 71-64. Although there was a scary moment for the Heat as LeBron limped off the court for trainers to tend to him. But LeBron returned unaffected in the fourth.
Entering the fourth quarter the pacers still within striking distance to make a run for the win. 3 minutes into the fourth the pacers were within 5, 71-75. After a technical foul and 2 free throw the Pacers crawled within two points (74-76). Ray Allen then did what he does best, make threes. Looking like a sniper in an open field Allen made three pointer after three pointer. The dagger that was put in the pacers back was a three pointer from Allen, A beautiful pass from Norris Cole who was driving to the basket but spotted a wide open Allen in the corner. Ray Allen added 13 points in the fourth.
The Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 99-87, taking game 3 and leading the series 2-1. LeBron lead in scoring for the heat putting up 26 points,5 rebounds,7 assists and 4 steals. Dwayne Wade had 23 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Ray Allen gave the Heat an extra 16 points off the bench. Other notable performances for the Heat included Norris Cole who opened up the floor for James,Wade and Allen. As well as off season pickup Rashard Lewis who played spectacular defense against the Pacers. The Heat shot 54.4% from the floor and 55.6 from 3 point range. Leading scorer for the Pacers was Paul George who played despite suffering a concussion in game two. Paul scored 17 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and had 1 steal. Roy Hibbert had 16 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal. Pacers gave up an awful 26 points off turn overs and only shot 47.7 percent from the floor. They also went 6-21 from three point range, a 28.6 shooting percentage.
Game four will be in Miami on Monday May 26. Will the Pacers even the series with a better performance or will the Heat pull ahead and have a devastating 3-1 series lead?