Insider: Indiana Pacers still can’t solve mystery of Miami Heat in blowout loss

The Indiana Pacers continue to struggle versus the Miami Heat. The Pacers lose 114-92. Indianapolis Star

A lot of the heat had to subside since the last time T.J. Warren and Jimmy Butler ran into each other, literally, six months ago.

In that game, won by Miami in a blowout in Indianapolis, Butler and Warren clashed in a vulgar tirade that continued into the locker room postgame. 

Monday’s 114-92 loss to the Heat wasn’t worth the energy. Bam Adebayo (10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks) was the silent killer. 

“They switched a lot of times 1 through 5 and Bam is a good defender. He can guard some guards so they have a lot of same-size guys out there,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. “They’re able to guard you.”

Butler (19 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals) agitated the Pacers in a more subtle way. He got to the foul line where he made 9 of 11. Warren (12 points on 5-for-14) was the only hope for the Pacers. After starting cold, he found a rhythm in the second quarter but that didn’t last after the halftime score was tied at 48.

Warren entered averaging a “bubble” high 34.5 points. He was pulled after 29 minutes and the deficit grew out of control. 

Adebayo was more frustrating than Butler. His help on the frontline allows wings such as Butler to be more aggressive because Adebayo can cover the rim. He blocked Malcolm Brogdon’s drives for layups twice. 

“Bam is a good defender,” Warren said. “He switches out, they’re trapping on the ball screens. We just got to make the right read. I felt like we had open looks. We just didn’t knock them down.”

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The Pacers (43-28) drop to 4-2 in Orlando. They have two games left, Wednesday vs. Houston and a final game Friday with No. 4 seed Miami (44-27). They trail the Heat for the fourth seed in the East with Philadelphia a half-game back, though the Pacers own that tiebreaker. 

Victor Oladipo (14 points) led Indiana but has totaled 10 turnovers in his last two games. Brogdon (12 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) couldn’t sustain them, either. Neither player had appeared in the two previous meetings with Miami. 

It didn’t matter.

“We just got to know what we’re doing and execute once they switch,” Oladipo said. “I felt like a lot of times we don’t know where we want to go to the post or we want to iso. We’ve got to be more decisive on what we’re trying to do.”

>> Goga Bitadze (2 points) had his best game of the restart in the win vs. the Lakers but he was a no-show in the first half because the Pacers needed smaller players to defend shooters. Edmond Sumner, a 6-6 combo guard who didn’t play in the last game because of the Lakers’ overwhelming size, logged 16 minutes mostly chasing Duncan Robinson (14 points). It was the right call as Robinson, a 44.5% shooter from 3, was held to 1-for-3 by halftime as Sumner stayed on his hip and chased him around screens to prevent clean pull ups. Robinson, however, got free in Miami’s 37-point third quarter when the Pacers went to Bitadze because they lacked rim protection. That allowed Robinson to score 11 points when the Heat pulled away. He made 3 of 7 3s, many of them clean looks. 

>> The additional threat of Warren has led to defenses focusing more on him with the ball, but the Pacers also use him playing a lot off the ball. When they run ball screens for Warren, teams such as the Lakers and Heat, are trapping it. “Teams are starting to pick up on him, start to double team him more, teams are starting to play him a little differently,” center Myles Turner said. “He’s doing a better job coming off the ball realizing that the ball is always going to come back to him so he’s made great plays.” The Pacers got it out of the traps when the Heat would send the big, Abebayo or Kelly Olynyk (8 points), but they’d didn’t shoot well when open. The Pacers were 5-for-16 on 3s in the first half, or 31.3%. They finished 33-for-84, 39.3%, overall and only made 10 of 35 3s, 28.6%. “They did a good job of containing us. We’ve seen it,” McMillan said of Miami’s switching defenses. “I’ve talked about it all season long. You have to win matchups when you have that. We didn’t win those matchups.”

>> At 6-7, JaKarr Sampson (4 points in 18 minutes) is woefully undersized against NBA centers but it’s a spot he has had to play with Bitadze bothered by a sore knee. “When I come on the court I want to be aggressive and bring my team energy and juice and life,” Sampson said after morning shootaround about playing his natural position at the 4 vs. the 5. “It’s pretty much the same role. If anything I’m going a lot more hitting. I kinda like that.” Sampson’s lack of shot-blocking led to Derrick Jones (18 points) scoring at the rim too easily on rolls. Goran Dragic (11 points, 9 assists) had a rough start as he was outplayed by T.J. McConnell (7 points) but he exploited the Pacers going too small with the frontline.

>> Rebounding was lopsided in favor of the Heat, who made up for poor shooting with second chances (28 points). They had a 59-45 edge, 13 of them coming on the offensive end. 

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Heat 114, Pacers 92 

INDIANA (92): A.Holiday 3-8 1-2 8, Warren 5-14 0-0 12, Turner 3-7 2-4 9, Brogdon 4-12 4-5 12, Oladipo 4-9 3-3 14, Bitadze 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 1-3 0-0 3, McDermott 4-11 0-0 9, Sampson 1-2 2-2 4, J.Holiday 2-8 2-2 7, McConnell 3-4 1-2 7, Sumner 2-4 1-5 5. Totals 33-84 16-25 92.

MIAMI (114): Butler 5-13 9-11 19, Crowder 5-8 0-0 14, Adebayo 4-10 2-4 10, Dragic 5-16 0-1 11, Robinson 5-11 0-0 14, Olynyk 3-11 2-3 8, Iguodala 0-4 0-0 0, Jones Jr. 9-11 0-0 18, Herro 7-11 0-0 17, Vincent 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 44-98 13-19 114.

Indiana 19  29  23  21—92

Miami 23  25  37  29—114

3-Point Goals_Indiana 10-35 (Oladipo 3-5, Warren 2-6, Johnson 1-2, Turner 1-4, McDermott 1-5, J.Holiday 1-7, Sumner 0-2, Brogdon 0-3), Miami 13-40 (Crowder 4-6, Robinson 4-10, Herro 3-6, Vincent 1-2, Dragic 1-6, Butler 0-2, Iguodala 0-3, Olynyk 0-5). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Indiana 45 (Brogdon 8), Miami 59 (Butler 11). Assists_Indiana 20 (Brogdon 6), Miami 29 (Dragic 9). Total Fouls_Indiana 19, Miami 20.