SALON

Saturday, Feb 2, 2013 3:00 AM UTC

West’s big night leads Pacers past Heat 102-89

By

Topics: From the Wires,

West's big night leads Pacers past Heat 102-89Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (3) looks for a teammate under the basket as he is defended by Indiana Pacers' Lance Stephenson, center, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)(Credit: AP)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana did it again Friday night.

And this time, the Pacers beat Miami at its own game.

David West scored 30 points, Paul George added 17 and Indiana became the second team to beat the defending champs twice this season with a 102-89 victory.

The Pacers (28-19) have won 13 in a row at home and two straight since ending a three-game losing streak earlier this week. They’ve also won three straight regular-season games over the Heat and have not lost to Miami since the Heat swept the final three games of the Eastern Conference semifinal series last spring.

For Miami (29-14), it was a frustrating night. While players and coaches promised to play a more physical game than the first one, the 87-77 loss on Jan. 8 also at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, it didn’t make much difference.

The Heat still got outrebounded, and allowed the Pacers to shoot a season-high 55.7 percent from the field. During one stretch, West made 11 straight baskets.

How frustrating was it? Three different Miami players and coach Erik Spoelstra drew technical fouls.

And after Miami put up a season-low 77 points in the first trip to Indiana, this time it nearly allowed Indiana to finish with its highest points total in a non-overtime game all season. The season high was 105 against Houston two weeks earlier.

It was that kind of night in Indy. Lance Stephenson had 15 points and George Hill 12 before leaving briefly late in the game with a left shoulder injury.

Meanwhile, the only other Miami players to reach double figures were Chris Bosh with 13 and Shane Battier with 11.

Indiana took control of the game with a 13-0 run that turned a 23-20 deficit into a 33-23 lead early in the second quarter. Miami never led again.

The Pacers, meanwhile, methodically extended the margin. They closed the first half on an 8-4 mini-run to make it 53-45, then opened the second half by scoring the first six points to take a 59-45 lead.

They weren’t even close to being finished. When Miami got within 64-54 on two free throws by Mario Chalmers with 7:13 to go in the third quarter, Indiana answered with a 12-3 run that made ended with two free throws from West. That made it 76-57 with 3:16 left in the quarter.

Miami only got as close as 12 the rest of the way.

More By Michael Marot.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • A missing poster hangs on a tree outside the Cleveland home of Amanda Berry Wednesday. Berry and two other women, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus, made a daring escape this week after being held captive for more than a decade.
    Credit: AP/Tony Dejak

  • Elvis Rafael Rodriguez and Emir Yasser Yeje offer their best impression of  Eric B. & Rakim. On Thursday, New York prosecutors identified the pair as members of an international gang that robbed $45 million in a matter of hours by hacking into a database of prepaid debit cards and draining ATM machines around the world.
    Credit: AP

  • New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie walks to a podium during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Technology Enhanced Accelerated Learning Center at Essex County Newark Tech in Newark, N.J., Tuesday. Christie made less flattering headlines this week after undergoing a secret stomach surgery to curb his weight.
    Credit: AP/Julio Cortez

  • Workers stand outside the Tung Hai Sweater Ltd. factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday after a fire broke out in its 11-story building. Eight people were killed in the blaze.
    Credit: AP/Ismail Ferdous

  • Workers rescue a woman trapped for 17 days in the rubble of a garment factory building in Saver, Bangladesh, Friday. The building's collapse was the worst industrial disaster in the country's history, killing more than 1,000 people.
    Credit: AP

  • Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford gives his victory speech Tuesday in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., after winning back his old congressional seat in the state's first district.
    Credit: AP/Rainier Ehrhardt

  • Jodi Arias reacts in Maricopa Country Superior Court Wednesday after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the gruesome killing of her one-time boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Arias has subsequently said she wants the death penalty, claiming she'd "prefer to die sooner than later."
    Credit: AP/The Arizona Republic/Rob Schumacher

  • Ariel Castro stands for his mug shot Thursday at the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center, where he is being held on $8 million bail. The former bus driver is accused of imprisoning three young women and beating them repeatedly over a period of 10 years.
    Credit: AP/Cuyahoga County

  • Charles Ramsey addresses the media Monday after helping rescue three women held captive in Cleveland for more than a decade. Ramsey's hero portraiture has been complicated by revelations of his own domestic violence record.
    Credit: AP/The Plain Dealer/Scott Shaw

  • Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force, testifies during a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday. The military branch was rocked this week after its chief sexual assault prevention officer was charged with sexual battery.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations