The Miami Heat’s belief in themselves has likely strengthened as the team has won two straight after beating the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, 125-120. After the Heat beat the Hawks on Wednesday, the unit was looking to build upon that impressive win as they outlasted the Pacers.
Erik Spoelstra said right after the huge victory that there is “clarity” with the team now.
“I mean, there’s clarity on where we are right now. It’s all hands on deck and impact the game, we need our X factors, and our X factors have been there in a 10x way for us,” Spoelstra said. “So it was two good wins, and a lot of guys had their fingerprints on both of these wins, which makes it nice.”
Erik Spoelstra on the Heat’s win over the Pacers and roulette rotation wheel.
“There’s clarity on where we are right now. It’s all hands on deck…so it was two good wins, and a lot of guys had their fingerprints on both of these wins, which makes it nice…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/y5o7FitH66
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 1, 2025
Tyler Herro once again led the way with 29 points on 11 for 25 shooting to go with seven assists and three rebounds as Duncan Robinson had 20 points while Bam Adebayo had 18 points and seven rebounds.
Here are three takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Pacers:
Pacers lethal from deep, but Heat found life in end of first half
As the Heat are working through their flaws and trying to build on their last win, there was a bit of a setback as right before the game, the team announced that Andrew Wiggins would be out with a right ankle sprain. This led to Erik Spoestra saying before the game that more minutes would go to Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Haywood Highsmith as the former would get the start along with Herro, Mitchell, Adebayo, and Ware.
Through the first quarter, a standout statistic was how each team shot the ball from three-point range as Indiana was six of eight while Miami was two of five. The team wasn’t necessarily bad offensively, finishing with 29 points in the first, but the Pacers would find their groove from deep as it would continue into the second period.
At one point, Indiana built up a 12-point lead in the second period where it was visibly noticeable that they had a step on Miami, controlling the pace and especially from three-point range as they finished the first half making 13 of 19 from deep. However, the Heat would gain a spark and end the first half on a 13-2 run, highlighted by a sequence of Jaquez hitting a three, getting a steal resulting in Mitchell hitting one, getting the Kaseya Center the loudest it’s been.
Jaime 3
Jaime steal
11-0 run & we’re right back in it
pic.twitter.com/f4uF4g9DE8
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 1, 2025
Herro led Miami with 18 points on seven for 15 shooting in the half along with Adebayo who had 12, Jaquez with 11, and Duncan Robinson with 10.
A thrilling second half leading to a Heat win
With the Heat looking to reach another level in their offense, it wasn’t what the team wanted to see to start the second half as Spoelstra had to call an early timeout after the Pacers went on an 8-0 run. On top of the Jaquez injury that we’ll touch on later, it would lead to Miami making a game-changing 12-1 run that gave the team its first lead since the very beginning of the contest.
Back in front with a 12-1 run after this Tyler bucket
2nd half underway on FanDuel Sports Network
pic.twitter.com/rgbK3lW9Oq
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 1, 2025
After back-to-back periods for Indiana of scoring at least 30 points in the first half, they were held to 23 in the third compared to the Heat’s 29. While the Pacers were deadly from three in the first half, they were only two of nine in the third while shooting 43.5 percent from the field.
Miami shot 50 percent from the field and three of eight from deep as Herro added on seven more points, but it was Alec Burks who had eight in the period since he started in place of Kel’el Ware. The Heat would get back the pace and momentum as they built up a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.
Indiana wouldn’t leave without a fight as they dwindled the lead until they eventually tied it back up, leading to a dogfight to the finish. It would be the home team that once again outlasts the Pacers, who like the Hawks on Wednesday, were hot offensively until Miami gained control on the defensive end.
The Heat would finish shooting an efficient 57.1 percent from the field and 53.1 percent from deep in what was another productive offensive night.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. injured, more rotational decisions for Heat
Trying to bounce back after a season of regression for Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr., he would suffer an ankle injury that looked concerning on replay as he was holding it and needed help getting up and leaving to the locker room. There is no doubt frustration as he was in the midst of a productive game after getting the start due to Wiggins having an ankle sprain, as said before.
A look at Jaime Jaquez Jr’s injury… damn pic.twitter.com/GzeiKUs8Mw
— 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙏 𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 (@HeatvsHaters) March 1, 2025
After the Heat’s Nikola Jovic suffered a broken hand, which he’ll miss at least four weeks, and now with Jaquez going through uncertainty, Spoelstra will have more decisions to make regarding the rotation. Spoelstra went 10-deep into the rotation Friday night, which includes Jaquez, as it seems that could be a likely occurrence going forward.
It was also the first time Terry Rozier made an appearance as he missed the last two games due to the coach’s decision, but it remains to be seen if he’s still a factor after the injuries to Jovic and Jaquez since the guard doesn’t fill the roles of the two young players.
At any rate, Miami is now 28-30 which puts them seventh in the Eastern Conference as they look for three straight wins when the Washington Wizards come into town on Sunday.
The post Why Heat has ‘clarity’ after thrilling win over Pacers appeared first on ClutchPoints.
