Three observations from the Miami Heat’s 119-110 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night that wrapped up a 2-4 trip.
After Friday’s win in Indiana, I wrote about the side pick-and-roll that helped get Bam Adebayo going en route to a 30-point night. The Heat went back to it on Sunday but, as expected, the Pacers were better prepared after having just seen it 48 hours prior.
Indiana keyed in on Adebayo, dropping its center to take away the pass on the short roll. But doing that created an opening for Robinson to let it fly.
Running this off to the side creates as much space for Robinson and Adebayo as possible, essentially turning a 5 on 5 game into a game of 2 on 2. The chemistry between Duncan and Bam is well established and, while this isn’t a new wrinkle, it’s new that the Heat spammed it as much as they did over the weekend.
Tyler Herro, elite 3-point shooter
Tyler Herro has been the best 3-point shooter in the league this season.
Six of Herro’s 3-pointers last night came from above the break. He’s been nails from there this season, canning 46.2% of his shots, easily the best mark of any high-volume shooter.
(He’s also shooting 60% from the corners).
When the offense stalled in the fourth quarter, Herro took matters into his own hands, ripping off back-to-back pull-up 3s to cut an eight-point deficit in half with 75 seconds to go.
The Pacers out-scored the Heat 62-28 in the paint on Sunday. It’s tough to win a game when giving up so many efficient looks at the basket. There were several uncharacteristic defensive lapses, but that’s not exactly surprising given the Heat were playing on their 12th day on the road.
But there’s a structural problem for the Heat. Adebayo was the only true center who played in the game. He shared the floor with Kevin Love for about 12 minutes. The Heat were small for the other 36, playing Adebayo with four wings or Nikola Jovic as the backup 5 when Adebayo was off the floor.
Meanwhile, the Pacers start and close with Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam. Adebayo can only guard one of them, which often left Siakam to barbeque a smaller defender, including Terry Rozier on too many occasions.
Coach Erik Spoelstra has yet to find functional big-man minutes beyond Bam’s. Already through 12 games, he’s toggled through two different starting power forwards and three backup centers.
