Bam Adebayo had a hoop, two offensive rebounds and three free throws down the stretch yesterday night as the Miami Heat staved off an Indiana Pacers rally to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with a 124-115 victory in the NBA “bubble” near Orlando.
Miami will go for the best-of-seven series sweep tomorrow, with a chance to move on to the Eastern semifinals against either top-seeded Milwaukee or No. 8 Orlando.
Jimmy Butler finished with a team-high 27 points, including 17-for-20 from the free throw line, for the Heat, who outscored the Pacers 43-21 from the stripe, getting 24 more opportunities.
Goran Dragic chipped in with 24 points and a team-high six assists, and Adebayo compiled a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds for Miami. Tyler Herro added 20 points, Duncan Robinson had 15 and Jae Crowder 11 for the Heat.
Brogdon recorded postseason career-highs with 34 points and 14 assists — both game-highs — for the Pacers, who outshot the Heat 48.8 percent to 45.3. T.J. Warren went for 23 points and Victor Oladipo had 20 for Indiana.
The fifth-seeded Heat led by as many as 20 points in the second quarter and 74-56 at the half before the fourth-seeded Pacers scored the first seven points of the third quarter to kick-start a comeback.
Indiana got within 94-90 at period’s end, and closed within two on three occasions in the final period, including one final time at 114-112 when Brodgon nailed a 3-pointer with 2:21 to go.
The Pacers forced misses on each of the Heat’s next two shots, but Adebayo retrieved each and turned the second into a pair of free throws to increase the advantage to four with 1:39 to play.
Butler (four) and Dragic (two) iced the win with six subsequent free throws as Miami held the Pacers without a point from the 2:21 mark until Brodgon bombed in another 3-pointer with 8.0 seconds left after Indiana had fallen behind 122-112.
The Pacers had inched within 111-109 with 4:07 to go on a Brodgon two-pointer. But that time, Adebayo dropped in one of two free throws, then connected on a short jumper on Miami’s next possession to open a 114-109 margin.
Myles Turner scored 15 as part of a double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds, and Aaron Holiday had 10 points for Indiana.
—Field Level Media
