Heat at Pacers
THE STORY: The Miami Heat have come to the final stop
on their three-road-games-in-three-days tour. If the last is anything
like the first two, the Heat can start patting themselves on the back
now. Miami has beaten the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks in the
last two nights by an average of 19 points. The stumbling Indiana Pacers
hope to present a stiffer defensive test Tuesday. The Pacers have
dropped three straight and allowed 100 points for the first time in 10
games in a 113-109 loss to Denver on Saturday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, SunSports (Heat), FS Indiana (Pacers)
ABOUT THE HEAT (22-7):
Miami had no problems with the Pacers’ defense in a 118-83 home win
Jan. 4. The Heat shot 52.5 percent from the floor in that one despite
being without Dwyane Wade. LeBron James, who piled 33 points, 13 assists
and eight rebounds in that first meeting, is coming off his best
shooting night of the season. The All-Star forward put up 35 points on
16-of-21 shooting in Monday’s 114-96 win over the Bucks. Miami is in the
middle of a six-game road trip and has taken three of the first four to
improve to 10-5 away from American Airlines Arena.
ABOUT THE PACERS (17-10):
Indiana has allowed an average of 101.8 points over its last four games
- up from a season mark of 92.4. The Pacers ran into trouble against
the Nuggets when they turned the ball over, leading to easy transition
opportunities. That was the same problem that surfaced in Miami last
month, when Indiana committed a season-high 23 turnovers. Indiana will
have several chances to get it right after Tuesday, with the following
seven games against sub-.500 teams, including two each against the
NBA-worst Charlotte Bobcats and New Orleans Hornets.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Indiana center Roy Hibbert is averaging 8.5 points and 6.0 rebounds since being named to the All-Star team Thursday.
2. Miami has taken seven of the last eight in the series, including the last three in Indianapolis.
3. James has averaged 27.6 points in 31 career games against the Pacers.