Pacers Outwork Heat On Boards, Win 81-75
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (AP) — Chris Copeland scored 17 points and put Indiana ahead to stay on a layup with 43 seconds left, Roy Hibbert added 16 points and 15 rebounds and the undermanned Pacers beat the Miami Heat 81-75 on Wednesday night.
Donald Sloan added 15 points for Indiana, which has won two straight after a 1-6 start.
Dwyane Wade scored 20 points for Miami, which trailed by seven in the fourth before tying the game twice but never recapturing the lead. Wade and Mario Chalmers both tried to get time-outs after diving on the floor for balls on the possession where Copeland gave the Pacers the lead for good, failing to get a call either time.
The Pacers outrebounded Miami 53-28, and the Heat missed 10 of 18 free throws.
Ian Mahinmi's three-point play with 7 minutes left put Indiana up 72-65, then its largest lead of the night. Miamiscored the next seven to tie it, then knotted the game again at 75 before Indiana closed on a 6-0 run.
Shawne Williams scored 15 for Miami. Chris Bosh was held to a season-low nine, on 3 for 13 shooting.
The Heat had three late shots at the lead, but a jumper by Deng missed, Hibbert blocked a dunk attempt by Deng and Bosh airballed a 3-pointer.
Indiana was missing six players, including four-fifths of its starting lineup from the last Pacers-Heat meeting — that being Game 6 of last season's Eastern Conference finals. Paul George, David West and George Hill are all hurt and Lance Stephenson is now with Charlotte, meaning Hibbert was the lone returning first-stringer from that rivalry.
"Life throws a screwball at you sometimes," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said before the game. "You have to hit it. You have to deal with it."
His team listened.
TIP-INS
Pacers: Indiana was without G Rodney Stuckey (left foot), F C.J. Miles (migraine), West (right ankle), George Hill (left knee) and G C.J. Watson (right foot), along of course with George (broken right leg). ... F Luis Scola got his 1,000th career assist.
Heat: F Chris Andersen (bruised ribs) returned after a five-game absence, appearing in his 599th NBA game. ...Miami extended its streak of making at least one 3-pointer to 199 games. ... Bosh had scored at least 20 points in each of Miami's first seven games.
(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
RELATED CONTENT: