Heat offense puts away Pacers 114-96 in Game 3
Indiana Pacers’ Paul George has his shot blocked by Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade (3) during the second half of Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference basketball finals in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 26, 2013. AP/Michael Conroy
INDIANAPOLIS — The Miami Heat rediscovered its offensive punch, beating the Indiana Pacers 114-96 on Sunday to take a 2-1 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
LeBron James scored 22 points and got plenty of help as the Heat reclaimed the home-court advantage they lost two nights earlier. Dwyane Wade had 18 points, and Udonis Haslem added 17.
David West led Indiana with 21 points, and Roy Hibbert had 20 points and 17 rebounds. The Pacers lost for the first time at home in the playoffs this season, dropping to 6-1.
Game 4 is Tuesday in Indianapolis.
Miami used an 8-2 run to open up a 10-point lead in the second quarter and led 70-56 at halftime — Miami’s biggest lead in the series.
Indiana didn’t get closer than seven the rest of the way.
It was a rare letdown from one of the NBA’s top defensive teams.
Miami shot 54.5 percent from the field, was 24 of 28 from the free-throw line, matched its highest-scoring quarter of the playoffs this season (34) in the first, broke the franchise’s postseason scoring record for a half with 70 points and tied a franchise playoff record with only one first-half turnover.
The combination was the perfect remedy for Miami, which needed James’ buzzer-beating layup to win Game 1 in overtime and turned the ball over twice in the closing seconds of Game 2, a 97-93 loss. The Heat hadn’t led by more than five in either of those two home games.
On Sunday, Miami got major contributions from a handful of players and left nothing to chance in building the big first-half lead.
Indiana was a different team to start the second half, getting back-to-back 3-pointers and a three-point play from George Hill. Lance Stephenson followed that with 1 of 2 free throws to cut it to 74-67.
But Miami countered with a 9-4 run, extended the lead to 91-76 after three and made it 99-78 early in the fourth.
Indiana closed to 101-87 midway through the fourth but couldn’t any closer. It was only the third time this season the Pacers lost at home by double digits.
