NBA: Bam Adebayo’s efficient night guides Heat past Pacers
Indiana Pacers guard Buddy Hield (24) protects the ball from Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) during the fourth quarter at Miami-Dade Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Bam Adebayo scored 38 points on 12-for-16 shooting from the floor and a perfect 14-for-14 effort from the foul line as the host Miami Heat defeated the reeling Indiana Pacers 116-111 on Wednesday night.
Jimmy Butler added 25 points and a team-high seven assists as Miami won a season-best seventh straight home game. Heat forward Caleb Martin added 12 points, a team-high 11 rebounds and four steals.
The Pacers, who were led by Buddy Hield’s 29 points, have lost 13 of their past 15 games. Indiana also has dropped 10 straight road games.
Hield shot 6 of 12 on 3-point attempts and leads the NBA with 214 made 3-pointers.
Myles Turner added 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers. T.J. McConnell had 18 points off the bench but scored just two after halftime.
Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton was held to 11 points, though he dished out 10 assists. In two wins over Miami this season, Haliburton averaged 32.5 points. But in the two losses, he averaged just six points on a combined 3-for-17 shooting.
Bam Adebayo in the Heat W:
🔥 38 PTS
🔥 9 REB
🔥 3 AST pic.twitter.com/U9SWbzpHv7— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2023
The Heat are 18-9 at home this season and improved to 18-5 when winning the rebound battle. They had 48 boards to just 31 for Indiana.
The Heat played without starting point guard Kyle Lowry (sore left knee) and key reserve Victor Oladipo (sprained right ankle).
Miami, with the help of a 14-0 run, led 39-30 at the end of the first quarter. The Heat shot 68.4 percent from the floor and led by as many as 16 points in their highest-scoring opening period of the season.
The Pacers posted a 9-0 run in the second quarter and took their first lead of the game, 52-51, on Chris Duarte’s drive with 4:22 left. By halftime, Indiana led 63-60.
The first half was a battle between Adebayo (20 points) and McConnell (16 points). Both of them shot 7-for-9 from the floor.
Miami surged back on top 89-83 after three quarters, and the Heat held on in the fourth as Indiana never got closer than three points in the final six minutes.
For the game, Indiana shot 15-for-33 (45.5 percent) from 3-point range. Miami shot just 6 of 19 (31.6 percent) from deep, but the Heat had a 52-42 edge in paint points.
