Indiana Pacers: 3 players that need to step up against Miami Heat

T.J. Warren

T.J. Warren went viral in the NBA’s seeding games, averaging an impressive 31.0 points per game on 57.8 percent field goal shooting and 52.4 percent from deep. He was virtually unstoppable as he served as a driving force in the Indiana Pacers’ 6-2 record. Still, the Miami Heat continue to get the best of him, despite his herculean efforts.

In three games against them since the restart, Warren has averaged 16.0 points per game on 44.1 percent field goal shooting and 37.8 percent from 3-point territory. Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat have been Warren’s kryptonite thus far, and the forward’s production has dipped to a fraction of what it previously was because of it.

If Warren cannot spark some offense reminiscent to his eye-opening seeding games, the Pacers might not stand a chance moving forward. He has arguably been their best player in the restart, and Indiana needs Warren to channel his ‘bubble’ persona that saw him earn All-First team seeding game honors for them to try and dig their way out of this deficit.

Jimmy Butler recently told reporters, “We can kill that. That’s something of the past,” in regards to his supposed feud with T.J. Warren. With the Miami Heat dominating the Indiana Pacers in the restart to this point, it seems like Butler is letting the results do the talking in their 3-1 record. Anything can happen from this point forward in the series, but Warren needs to step it up against the Heat or the Indiana Pacer could be going home early.