MIAMI – For most of Saturday night’s Miami Heat game, if you hadn’t watched much of the Indiana Pacers, you would have thought they were high percentage with their shots, relentless with their offense.
Instead of entering the night last in the NBA in field-goal percentage and second-to-last in scoring.
With defensive anchor Bam Adebayo sidelined for a second consecutive game with back pain, the Heat stood as less than stout on the defensive end for extended stretches before finally finding a way in a 142-116 victory at Kaseya Center.
So, misery averted against the team with the NBA’s worst record, and instead a two-game winning streak after previously losing eight of nine prior to the Christmas break.
With guard Tyler Herro also out, the Heat turned to supporting players for leading efforts, rewarded with 28 points apiece from Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Andrew Wiggins.
With the Heat also getting 25 from Norman Powell, it ultimately proved more than enough to offset the 33-point effort of Pacers forward Pascal Siakam, who sizzled in the first half.
Through it all, the Heat’s offense appears to have regained its stride when gifted a pair of turnover-prone opponents the past two nights, getting 21 from the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night and then 26 from the Pacers in this one.
It is the seventh time the Heat scored at least 140 this season, after doing it that many times in the franchise’s previous 37 seasons.
Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday night’s game:
1. Game flow: The Heat led 29-28 after the first period, with Indiana then moving to a 60-59 halftime lead. The Heat then went down four in the third period, before taking a 98-94 lead into the fourth.
From there, the Heat extended their lead to 14 with 7:21 left in the fourth quarter, with a 13-4 surge sparked by Jaquez.
Eventually, the lead moved onto the 20s, with the Heat scoring 83 second-half points, including 44 in the fourth quarter.
2. All-out attack: Jaquez again was solid in anchoring the bench, his attacking style needed on a night when there was plenty of meandering elsewhere with the Heat offense beyond Wiggins’ play..
Jaquez has now scored 20 or more in three of his last four games, after doing so just once in his previous 10 appearances.
Jaquez closed 11 of 15 from the field.
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3. Way of Wiggins: Wiggins continues to quietly warm up to the season, with another solid effort after Friday night’s 18 points in the victory in Atlanta.
Wiggins early in the third period stood 3 of 3 on 3-pointers at a stage when the rest of his teammates were 3 of 15.
With Herro and Adebayo out, Wiggins appears to have found a rhythm he often has lacked while playing as more of a complementary component.
He closed 12 of 16 from the field, including 4 of 4 on 3-pointers.
4. Suddenly Siakam: Siakam was up to 24 points by intermission, at one point scoring eight points in the 57-second stretch in the second period.
Siakam was 10 of 13 from the field in the first half, including 4 of 5 on 3-pointers.
The Heat then increased the number of double-teams thrown at Siakam, leaving Pacers shooters wide open at times.
Siakam nonetheless became the 15th player to score 30 or more against the Heat this season, with New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson doing it twice, including his 47-point performance on Sunday night.
5. It gets real: Next up for the Heat is a three-game stretch against the elite of the league, starting Monday night against the Denver Nuggets (22-9), continuing with a New Year’s Day road game against the Detroit Pistons (24-7) and then next Saturday at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves (20-11).
The Heat are 6-13 against teams with winning records.
