Pacers at Heat
The Indiana Pacers played three tight games on their homestand but came away with losses in the last two and are hoping for better luck when they hit the road for a tough two-game road trip. The Pacers open the trip on Friday by visiting the Miami Heat, who won their last two games despite dealing with some key injuries.
The common thread in each of Indiana's five losses is a lack of execution on the offensive end, and the team is aware of its issues. "We just have to get everybody more involved with the offense and play with a little more flow, more pace," power forward Thaddeus Young told reporters after a 100-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. "We'll just figure it out as far as moving the ball. I think that's the biggest thing. As long as we continue to move the ball, we get good results. If we don't, then we get stagnant on offense, then we score 98 or 95 points." The Heat were without guards Goran Dragic (knee) and Dwyane Wade (personal) on Wednesday but still managed to knock off the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 and will attack Indiana with a defense that blocked 11 shots in the victory. Nine of those blocks came from center Hassan Whiteside, who enjoyed his best game of the season with 29 points and 20 rebounds.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Indiana, FS Sun (Miami)
ABOUT THE PACERS (7-5): Indiana star Victor Oladipo went 14-of-30 from the floor en route to a season-high 36 points on Wednesday but was just 4-of-14 from 3-point range, and coach Nate McMillan bemoaned the team's lack of shot-making. "You’ve got to make some shots," McMillan told reporters. "If you’re not making shots, then they’re not going to double team. If you can't create penetration and break the defense down, they don’t have to leave the perimeter. So, we've got to make some shots." The Pacers finished 8-of-31 from 3-point range on Wednesday and sit 27th in the league with an average of nine made 3-pointers per game.
ABOUT THE HEAT (5-5): Whiteside, who is averaging 14.2 points and 15.2 rebounds, sat out Monday's win over the Detroit Pistons with a knee injury but played 32 minutes Wednesday against San Antonio. "The ball will find energy and he was a bundle of energy on both ends," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters of Whiteside. "That’s the karma of the game. We ran probably less than a handful of direct plays to him, and he was making guys see him with his force. That’s what it’s all about." Whiteside's eight first-half blocks set a franchise record.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wade is questionable after he and his wife welcomed a baby girl on Wednesday.
2. Pacers C Myles Turner averaged seven points on 4-of-15 shooting in the last two games.
3. The teams split the four-game series last season, with Indiana earning a 120-95 victory in its trip to Miami on Nov. 19.