MIAMI — Tyler Herro scored 26 points in his return from a three-game absence with a bruised thigh, Duncan Robinson tied a season-high with 26 points and the Miami Heat rolled past the Indiana Pacers 125-96 on Tuesday night.
Miami tied a franchise record with 22 made 3-pointers, the fourth time the Heat have made that many.
Max Strus scored 18 points, KZ Okpala scored 16 and Kyle Lowry finished with eight points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for Miami. Omer Yurtseven added 13 rebounds for the Heat, who had 30 assists.
“When the ball’s moving like that, people just feel the energy of the ball, unselfish play,” Robinson said. “It’s easy to let it fly.”
Chris Duarte and Caris LeVert each scored 17 for Indiana, which got 14 points from Oshae Brissett and 12 points from Domantas Sabonis. Indiana lost Malcolm Brogdon in the first half with more soreness in his right Achilles, something that has been bothering him. He had one point and two assists in eight minutes, and when he left the game it was quickly determined that he couldn’t return.
“We’ll keep treating it, we’ll keep looking at everything we can to help this situation be resolved,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s obviously a big loss on the floor without having him out there. Just a tough night.”
It was the first game back for Carlisle, who entered the league’s health and safety protocols on Dec. 9 after testing positive for COVID-19 and missed four games. Indiana led by five early, but the deficit was 12 by the time the first quarter ended and eventually reached 33.
“Miami was tremendous,” Carlisle said. “They played a phenomenal game. They played at an extremely high level and we obviously didn’t play well. So it was a tough night.”
Miami improved to 2-1 in a nine-game stretch where it’ll play at least eight games against teams with losing records. The Heat are playing Orlando twice, Detroit twice, the Pacers, San Antonio, Houston and Sacramento in this portion of the season; Washington (16-15) currently has the best record of Miami’s opponents between now and Jan. 2.
The Heat finished 22 of 49 from 3-point range, with Udonis Haslem making the record-tying shot with 1:36 left. The Heat, without starters Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and P.J. Tucker, got 75 points from undrafted players.
“Our veteran group really infuses so much confidence in our young guys,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
