Miami Comes Back From 15 Down to Take Series Lead

The Heat trailed by 15 at one point but came all the way back to take a 2-1 series lead on Saturday

The Miami Heat lead the conference finals 2-1 after their 99-87 comeback win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

Dwyane Wade and LeBron James had big games to help the Heat come back from a 15-point deficit. Wade had 23 points while James had 26 of his own. Ray Allen was a big reason that Miami was able to take a big lead in the fourth as the veteran hit four three-pointers in the quarter.

Miami started the game 1 for 6 from the field and trailed 6-2 early on. The misses included a rare air ball from James. Besides the misses, the Heat played sloppy turning the ball over five times in the first seven minutes.

With 3:42 remaining in the first quarter, Indiana held a 17-4 advantage and was on a 15-2 run. Miami’s problems continued with six turnovers and an abysmal 2-9 on field goal attempts at this point.

Miami ended the quarter on a 9-2 run to make it a 21-14 Indiana lead going into the second quarter.

Three-pointers from Norris Cole and Chris Bosh within a minute of each other made it a seven point game again after Indiana had extended their lead to 11 in the early going of the quarter.

The Pacers went on a 10-2 run and had their biggest lead of the game at the time at 15 with 6:14 left in the half.  James who sat down early in the quarter returned with 5:39 left. After his return, the Heat went on a 8-0 run to reduce the deficit to seven.

The Heat continued their comeback and it was a four-point game at the buzzer. Heading into the half, Indiana led 42-38.

The teams exchanged baskets to begin the second half until the Heat went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game with 7:36 remaining. James put down a thunderous dunk to give Miami the lead.

Fouls became a major sticking point in the third quarter as Bosh, George Hill and Paul George all picked up their fourth personal foul and sat for a while. When the Heat took a timeout with 4:10 left in the quarter, the Pacers had regained a one-point lead.

James had 12 points in the quarter after having a total of 10 in the first half. Going into the fourth quarter, the score was 71-64 Miami after a Wade three-pointer with 1.4 left on the clock.

After ending the previous quarter with a trey, Wade opened the fourth with another three-pointer to extend the Heat lead to ten. The Pacers would quickly reduce that however as it was only a five-point game with 8:37 left. Bosh was hit with a technical foul as well for disputing a foul.

Ray Allen hit two three-pointers in the middle of the quarter to give Miami an eight-point lead. James assisted on the second as part of a big second half for the star. Allen would hit another three after an Indiana timeout to give the Heat an 11-point lead. That was the biggest lead of the series thus far for the Heat.

Allen sank yet another trey with 2:50 remaining to give Miami a 15-point lead of its own. The Heat would never look back as the clock ticked down.

Game four will take place at 8:30 p.m. on Monday from Miami once again.

Contact Us