Coup’s Takeaways: Indiana’s Defense Responds As They Split Two-Game Set Despite More Late-Game Hero Fireballs
1. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle sent a clear message, a couple of them really, Friday night when he pulled his entire starting lineup, twice, in the second half after what he was seeing of their defensive effort.
Miami finished with their highest Shot Quality – expected effective field-goal percentage based on the location of their attempts and the contests from the defense – of the season in that one. Tonight, Indiana came out with a much clearer sense of purpose on the defensive side, two early baseline cuts from Miami, plays where they were walking into scores on Friday, stymied in the early going.
Pacers took a quick 8-0 lead on a pair of Myles Turner threes, Miami responded with back-to-back Kevin Love threes and thus a pattern was established. Every time Indiana pushed their lead to eight or more, Miami would immediately punch back with a series of threes and offensive rebounds while Erik Spoelstra’s zone switch toggled on and off. Where they started Friday off cold from the outside, sustained by all those darts into the paint, tonight their shooting (three first-half tripled from Duncan Robinson helping Miami get to 40 percent) kept them attached, 52-49 at the break.
Indiana again pushed it to eight early in the third, Turner (34 points on 23 shots, 5-of-8 from three) again starting the half hot. This time the counter did not come immediately, the lead stretched out to 15. A four-point play from Tyler Herro helped matters but with everyone else missing some pretty decent looks the lead quickly went back to 16. Another hit back from Miami, the pattern staying true enough, three again keeping them alive this time Bam Adebayo closing it to 10 with a corner three. Jaime Jaquez Jr. rolled his ankle and had to leave for the locker room at that point, another Robinson three falling in the meantime as Miami hung around still down 10 going into the fourth despite their own 8-of-18 shooting at the rim.
Another set of back-to-back threes, this time from Herro, and it was down to eight even before Robinson got fouled taking a three. Herro again soon after, his third triple in the quarter to bring it all the way down to three. Indiana’s shot quality quickly fell off a cliff from there, Miami’s not mattering as Robinson hit a tough, contested triple to tie it up. Haliburton (16 points on 13 shots, 13 assists) followed up with consecutive threes of his own to give Indiana some breathing room again.
Right as Indiana went up eight with two to play, Herro again pulled up in transition for another triple followed by another, seriously, seconds later. Problem was, unlike Detroit last week, the Pacers matched Miami shot for shot, Turner hitting two late threes, including one with 50 seconds left, to keep the Pacers up seven. Siakam made a mistake after that, fouling himself out on the inbound to stop the clock and give Nikola Jovic a pair of free-throws, Miami’s full-court press forcing an Indiana timeout.
That was that for the never-ending counters, nothing going for Miami in the closing moments after Herro’s barrage gave them a chance as Indiana took it, 119-110. The HEAT officially finish up their road trip 2-4 and get to finish it off with a back-to-back Monday night in Miami against Philadelphia.
2. Indiana, particularly their starters, deserves credit for the way they responded to a rough night on Friday, watching all that tape of Miami cutting their defense to shreds with open look after layup after open look. Just about everything comfortable dried up inside the arc for Miami, 8-of-19 at the rim, 6-of-18 in the upper paint and 3-of-9 in the mid-range, few of those easy misses. Indiana won points in the paint, 62-28.
Miami did close things off in the paint for a stretch in the fourth, Spoelstra’s shell scheme keeping the ball going around the horn and rarely downhill even as he ran offense-forward lineups. That was the only stretch, outside of some of that early zone, when Indiana’s offense (125.5 offensive rating) looked out of rhythm, Haliburton left trying to create on a short clock with defenders pinched in on his drives and his man pushed up on his jumper, but for as close as Miami got off the back of those stops in the middle of the fourth, Haliburton’s back-to-back threes – one in a scramble, one off the dribble – reopened the painted doors for Benedict Mathurin to get to the rim for a foul and for T.J. McConnell to attack Miami’s pressure for a dagger layup.
Friday night the Pacers hung around, until they didn’t, largely because they were hitting their threes. They hit 13-of-29 tonight, but you’ll live with that if the interior is closed off as Miami’s philosophy intends. Instead, the Pacers found success at all levels, the HEAT’s 10 turnovers keeping fast-break opportunities relatively low – Indiana still has 18 in transition, but on lower volume – while Indiana produced 111.4 points-per-100 in the halfcourt. It’s the end of a long trip, to be sure, with Jimmy Butler out and Jaquez Jr. injured, but allowing volume in the paint is anathema to the HEAT’s intention all the same.
3. On one hand, you don’t want to be in position to need to mount a comeback, Miami finding themselves trailing in second halves somewhat regularly in many of their early season games. Just as playing in clutch games means you’re living life on the edge, at risk of one or two bounces ruining your night, trailing late in the third or early in the fourth means the clock is ticking away the seconds before you essentially must be perfect to have a chance.
On the other hand, the HEAT have largely demonstrated an ability to comeback and give themselves a chance before perfection is required. Their home opener against Orlando went awry in the second half when their shooting went Antarctic, but outside of that one the three-ball has almost always been there, tonight the final tally landing at 19-of-44 for 43.2 percent. It’s a smart, mathematically sound approach, the upside of all those threes far outweighing the need for a more balanced shot profile. It also probably doesn’t work without the services of Herro and Robinson, the latter able to make from anywhere as he plays his handoff game with Adebayo, the former nearing absurdity with his fourth quarters as he finished with 28 points on 18 shots, 7-of-11 from three. It’s no mistake, then, that Spoelstra’s late-game offense tonight primarily involved those three players working in tandem, all that fluid gravity generating just enough space for a launch while Adebayo worked one-on-one when the Pacers stalled things out.
We know Robinson (20 points on 10 shots, 5-of-8 from three) can do this off the catch, but we’re still months away from knowing if what Herro is doing is even remotely sustainable as he followed up a cooler Friday with a scorching Sunday, hitting off the dribble within the confines of a phonebooth. This is a special, special run from him, and as much as Miami doesn’t always want to be in position to need such magic from Herro, it sure is nice to know it’s an option – especially with him hunting threes at such volume, forgoing the mid-range even when times are tough – all the same.