Wade-Less, Heat Torch Pacers 118-83
MIAMI (AP) — LeBron James had 33 points and 13 assists, Chris Bosh added 22 points and the Miami Heat hardly missed Dwyane Wade in a 118-83 rout of the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.
James also grabbed eight rebounds and the Heat turned up the defensive intensity without their star guard. Wade sat out with a sore left foot, and his status for Thursday's game at Atlanta is uncertain.
Roy Hibbert had 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead Indiana. Tyler Hansbrough scored 14.
Wade, a six-time All-Star, injured his foot in the second quarter at Charlotte on Dec. 28. He missed the first 10 minutes of the third period but played regular minutes the rest of the game and in the two that followed. He skipped Wednesday's shootaround, though.
The Heat had a scare late in the third quarter when James went down underneath the basket with an apparent left ankle injury.
James appeared to step on the foot of Indiana's Paul George while attempting a fast-break layup. But after staying on the court for a few seconds James got to his feet, prompting applause from the sellout crowd, and resumed breaking down the Pacers.
Indiana, a fashionable pick to be one of the surprise teams in the East, had a miserable second quarter, going 1 for 15 from the field and committing 10 turnovers that Miami turned into 10 points.
Miami took a 62-39 halftime lead thanks to a 25-6 run to close the second quarter.
Indiana's main problem, however, was that it couldn't slow Miami's transition offense. And because the Pacers shot so poorly and committed so many turnovers, all the Heat had to do was grab the ball and start running, and they did it quite successfully.
The Pacers trailed 29-27 after the first quarter. But in the second half, they never got closer than 12 points and the lead eventually ballooned to 36.
Indiana's Danny Granger scored only six points on 2-for-13 shooting. He missed six of his seven shots in the first half and committed three turnovers.
The Pacers ended up shooting 34.8 percent from the field. They committed 23 turnovers that Miami turned into 28 points.
This was Indiana's biggest test of the season after beating Detroit, Toronto, Cleveland and New Jersey.
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