Saturday 28 December 2019 10:51, UK
Jimmy Butler hailed the Heat’s ability to ‘always find a way to win’ after Goran Dragic’s clutch floater earned Miami a 113-112 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra had warned his team before the game that match-ups between Indiana and Miami tend to get decided by a loose ball somewhere.
Sure enough, he was right.
Dragic scored in the lane with 6.8 seconds remaining to cap a wild finish, and the Heat improved the NBA's best home record to 14-1 by defeating the Pacers 113-112 on Friday night.
Dragic's shot was the third by Miami on the go-ahead possession, after Jimmy Butler and Kendrick Nunn both missed but the Heat were able to grab offensive rebounds to keep their hopes alive. Those were Miami's final two boards on a night where the Heat outrebounded the Pacers 56-34.
Speaking in the locker room after the win, Butler, who scored 20 points, said: "We can always find a way to win. I like games like this because they make you execute down the stretch and play basketball the right way. Our pride is on the line at those times. It is easy to win a game by 20-30 points. In this league, it is difficult to win by one or two.
"It's what we talk about every day. Never giving up on the play, going after every loose ball. If there is a ball on the floor, we have got to have it. [That last play] was a prime example of what we talk about every day."
"Those last two rebounds, those plays speak for themselves," Dragic said. "We're never going to give up."
Aaron Holiday had a chance to win it for Indiana, but his 10-footer - well defended by Derrick Jones Jr - with about a second left bounced away. The lead changed hands five times in the final 2:21.
"'DJ' has been key for us," Butler said. "When you're talking about getting the fans into the game with highlight dunks, getting a stop or making a huge basket… when he is playing like that with that much energy we really do follow suit."
Bam Adebayo had 18 points and 15 rebounds, including the offensive board that set up Dragic's decisive shot. Nunn scored 17, Dragic had 14 and Tyler Herro scored 10.
"We knew it would be a grind," Spoelstra said.
Duncan Robinson had 18 points, all on six three-pointers to reach 101 for the season. He reached the century mark in 31 games, four games faster than anyone else in Heat history. Damon Jones needed 35 games in 2004-05.
Aaron Holiday scored 17 for Indiana, who got 16 from TJ Warren and Jeremy Lamb, 14 from Doug McDermott, 13 from Myles Turner and 11 apiece from Justin Holiday and Edmund Sumner.
"It comes down to two plays we have to execute and we didn't," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. "That defensive possession where if we get a stop and we get the rebound and possibly win the game.
"I think they got three offensive rebounds on that possession and then we have the last possession of the game and we don't score. You have to make those plays and we didn't do that."
