Indiana PacersIndiana Pacers vs. Miami HeatMiami Heat Pick Center

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ML SPREAD TOTAL
Indiana PacersIndiana Pacers 115
+179
+5
(-107)
O 213.5
(-101)
Miami HeatMiami Heat 124
-201
-5
(-103)
U 213.5
(-110)
NBANBA
FINAL (8/22/2020)
Aug 21, 2020The teams will trade benches and wear different colors, but the Miami Heat hope everything else stays the same as they look to go up 3-0 Saturday in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers.The Heat have suffocated the Pacers with defense, allowing just 100.5 points per game and 11.0 3-pointers per contest. Those marks ranked second- and fourth-best among the 16 teams through two games of the postseason at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.Miami has been especially rough on Pacers star T. J. Warren, who poured in 31.0 points per game during the completion of the regular season in the NBA bubble. He shot 57.8 percent overall on 21.3 attempts per outing, 52.4 percent on 7.0 3-point tries a night during that eight-game span.In two playoff games, however, he has averaged just 18.0 points, limited to 48.5 percent overall on 16.5 attempts and 40.0 percent on 3-pointers on 5.0 attempts.With Warren shooting less, Victor Oladipo and Malcolm Brogdon shot more in Thursday's 109-100 loss in Game 2. And while they combined for 39 points, Oladipo went just 5-for-14 from the field, while Brogdon was 4-for-14.The good news for fourth-seeded Indiana is, under normal circumstances, the site would be shifting to fifth-seeded Miami's home floor for Games 3 and 4. But the Heat won't have that kind of advantage Saturday or Monday in the bubble."At the end of the day, we can't get discouraged," Oladipo expressed after the Game 2 loss. "I think as the series goes on, we'll figure it out. But we've just got to continue to be aggressive." The Pacers have been outplayed at both ends of the floor. They've allowed Miami to shoot 48.4 percent overall and make 15.5 3-pointers per game, figures that ranked third and tied for fourth among all teams through two games.If Indiana is expecting a Miami letdown with its comfortable lead, one incident from a generally one-sided Game 2 indicated that's not going to be the case.Heat star Jimmy Butler got in the face of All-Star Bam Adebayo during the win, demanding that his young teammate not lose focus."I think everybody here knows what I want, and that's to win," Butler explained after the game. "I know what Bam wants, and that's to win. So when I see something when somebody's not doing what they're supposed to be doing, it's quick. You get to the point and you get it out of the way."And here, that's how we handle everything. We don't beat around the bush and go tell somebody to tell somebody. You go right to that person, you say it, and it's over with." Adebayo was far less of a factor in Game 2 than he'd been in Game 1, when his 17-point, 10-rebound double-double was a big part of Miami's 113-101 win.He was more of a spectator in Game 2, chipping in with just seven points and five rebounds as the Heat used more of a perimeter attack to fuel the win.Duncan Robinson led the long-range assault, matching the Miami franchise playoff record for 3-pointers in a game with seven. Tyler Herro added three as the Heat shot 18-for-35 from deep, outscoring Indiana 54-36 from beyond the arc.--Field Level Media

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