12/14/16: Pacers falter in 4th quarter, fall to Heat, 95-89.

The Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers met once again on Wednesday night. Over the past couple of seasons, they've created quite the rivalry. Now, these teams have changed quite a bit since the rivalry began. Why, the Heat no longer have LeBron James or Dwyane Wade, while the Pacers have an almost entirely new roster from last season.

But nevertheless, the Heat and Pacers met for the first time this season on Wednesday. It was at American Airlines Arena, in Miami. Miami wore some pretty rad uniforms. They were all white, with a cool black design on the sides of their jerseys and shorts. The Pacers wore their normal navy blue road uniforms.

Coming into the game, the Pacers (13-12) were a solid 4-2 in the month of December, with back to back strong performances. A 118-111 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on December 10th, a game in which the Pacers trailed by 20 points at one point, and a 110-94 smack down of the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night. Both of those games were at home.

The Heat (8-17) came into the game 2-5 in December, having lost 5 straight games before beating the Washington Wizards 112-101 on Monday night at home. 

For the record, coming into the night, the Pacers were 3-8 on the road (meanwhile, 10-4 at home) and the Heat were 3-8 at home (5-9 on the road).

The starting lineups for the game were:

Indiana: Jeff Teague at PG, Glenn Robinson III at SG, Paul George at SF, Thaddeus Young at PF, and Myles Turner at C.

Miami: Goran Dragic at PG, Rodney McGruder at SG, Wayne Ellington at SF, Josh McRoberts at PF, and Hassan Whiteside at C.

Pacers vs. Heat games, in the past, have usually gone down to the wire in what turn out to be instant classics. While this game wasn't a classic, per say, it was very tightly contested throughout, and went down to the final minute of the game.

The Pacers led 21-20 after the first quarter, in what was a very defensive quarter. But the offenses came to life in the second quarter, with Miami outscoring Indiana, 33-31, in the frame to take a 53-52 lead at halftime. The Pacers regained control in the 3rd quarter, going up 79-78 after the frame.

Then the 4th quarter came around. As a Pacers fan, I have learned that a 1-point lead going into the final frame is pretty much a sign that we are going to lose. The Pacers are not a closing team, at all. And tonight was no different.

The Pacers and Heat combined for 27 points total in the quarter. It was a combination of excellent defense by both sides, but also some pretty bad offense. Especially for Indiana.

Through the first 3 quarters combined, the Pacers had 3 turnovers. In the 4th quarter alone, they had 6 turnovers. Also, the shooting in the period was atrocious. Miami was up 84-79 with about 6 minutes left in the game -- That's right, the Pacers went nearly half the quarter before they scored. With 6:09 to play, Aaron Brooks hit a jumper from 19-feet to give the Pacers their first points since the 1:12 mark of the 3rd. Miami had outscored them 9-0. 

It was Tyler Johnson who put Miami up for good. 15 seconds into the final quarter, he hit a driving layup that put Miami up 80-79. Miami, by no means, was "on fire" in the quarter. They shot 6/18 in the period (33%). The Pacers shot 5/17 (29%). But the Heat also had 5 made free throws, while the Pacers didn't make any (I don't even think they had attempts, for that matter.) As a result, the Heat outscored the Pacers 17-10 in the final quarter, and picked up a huge 95-89 win.

A huge asset to Miami was the contributions of star center Hassan Whiteside. He had 26 points and 22 rebounds, the 4th 20-20 game of his career, and he also blocked 2 shots. James Johnson and Tyler Johnson had 14 points and 15 points off of the Miami bench, respectively.

For Indiana, Paul George led the way with 22 points, his 6th-straight 20-point game (which includes 37 against Portland), while also hauling in 7 boards. Myles Turner had 11 points and swatted away 5 shots. C.J. Miles added 15 points off the Indiana bench.

For game stats, Miami blasted Indiana on the rebounds, 69-46. The Pacers shot 33/89 (37.1%), and Miami shot 37/82 (45.1%). Each team made 14 free throws, but the Heat took 8 more shots from the stripe.

Up next:

Indiana (13-13, 3-9 road) is at New Orleans (8-18, 5-9 home) on Thursday, while Miami (9-17, 4-8 home) hosts the Los Angeles Clippers (19-7, 10-3 road) on Friday.