Whiteside dominates in Heat victory over Pacers
MIAMI -- Hassan Whiteside scored 26 points and grabbed 22 rebounds to lead the Miami Heat past the Indiana Pacers 95-89 on Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
It was the fourth 20-20 game in Whiteside's career.
Reserves Tyler Johnson and James Johnson were both big for the Heat. Tyler had 15 points, five rebounds, four blocks and three assists. James had 14 points and six assists.
Miami got a boost from small forward Justise Winslow, who returned after missing 16 games because of a sprained left wrist. Winslow entered the game with 48 seconds left in the first quarter.
With 7:22 left in the second quarter, Winslow hit a left-elbow jumper for his first basket since Nov. 14. He finished with two points in 21 minutes.
Point guard Goran Dragic, coming off a 34-point game that was his best scoring performance in a Heat uniform, missed all seven of his first-half shots. He finished with 11 points and six assists.
The Heat, which has a modest two-game win streak and a 9-17 record, improved to 4-8 at home.
Indiana (13-13) had its two-game win streak snapped. The Pacers are 1-10 in their past 11 games in Miami.
Paul George led Indiana with 22 points, but was 8 for 22 from the floor.
Pacers reserve shooting guard Rodney Stuckey came back after missing part of Indiana's previous game because of a sprained knee. Stuckey scored 10 points against Miami on 3-of-12 shooting but injured his groin in the third quarter and did not return.
Miami made buzzer-beating shots at the end of the first two quarters -- first by James Johnson and then by Tyler Johnson.
But despite shooting only 30.4 percent in the first period, Indiana still led 21-20. That's because the Heat committed 10 turnovers -- its worst quarter in that category since March 2014 -- and took only two free throws, missing both. Miami shot 40.9 percent.
Fortunately for the Heat, they have Whiteside, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds at the half. Whiteside picked up two fouls in the first period but none in the second, and that helped the Heat grab a 53-52 lead at the half.
The game remained close through 36 minutes as the Pacers rotated back on top 79-78 after three quarters.
NOTES: Heat SG Dion Waiters (groin) missed his 10th straight game and was only able to perform some shooting drills at practice. ... Indiana was without starting SG Monta Ellis (groin). ... Heat F Udonis Haslem brought his entire team -- other than Waiters, who had previous plans celebrating his 25th birthday -- to the Miami Dolphins-Arizona Cardinals football game on Sunday. The players sat in a Dolphins luxury suite rented by Haslem. ... Miami continues its six-game homestand on Friday, getting a visit from the Los Angeles Clippers. ... The Pacers are at the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.