The Miami Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers 109-100 and now have a 2-0 in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Here’s what we learned.
The Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat met four times during the 2019-20 NBA season. Although the Heat took three of those four meetings between the two ball clubs, the Pacers finished ahead of their counterparts in the standings. In the first game of their first-round series, the Heat came away with a 113-101 victory. As everyone knows, though, the NBA playoffs are all about which teams can make the necessary adjustments between games.
Early on in Game 2, the Pacers held the Heat to just 38.9 percent shooting in the opening frame to take a slim 24-22 advantage after the first 12 minutes of action. This is a significant stat because the Heat led the NBA in field goal percentage in the opening quarter during the regular season as they shot 49.9 percent overall and 41.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Unfortunately, for the Pacers, Miami was able to shake off its early woes, thanks in part to Duncan Robinson, who led all scorers with 24 points. Although the Pacers fought back multiple times from double-digit deficits, the Heat proved to be too much for them once again as they managed to take Game 2 by a 109-100 margin, posting their fifth win against the Pacers in five tries.
With the win, the Heat now have a dominant 2-0 series lead in this best-of-seven series. So what exactly went right for Miami in this one?
Here’s a look at the major storylines from the Heat’s Game 2 victory.