Heat 114, Pacers 96
INDIANAPOLIS -- And just like that -- in less than a half -- home-court advantage is back in the Miami Heat's hands.
The Heat took it back in grand fashion when they dominated the Indiana Pacers from start to finish in their 114-96 victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sunday.
The Heat lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 is back at the Fieldhouse on Tuesday.
The Pacers take pride in their defensive work, but the Heat made them look like an ordinary team on that end of the court in the first half.
Miami, at its best when attacking the basket, scored 34 points in the paint en route to a 70-56 halftime lead. The Heat had 60 inside points, including 40 in the second half and overtime, in its Game 1 win.
The 70 first-half points represented the highest total ever allowed by the Pacers in any half of a postseason game.
The Pacers made things interesting momentarily in the third quarter when they got to back to within seven on a Roy Hibbert three-point play, but that was the closest they would get.
The Heat never felt threatened because they responded by getting a basket from Dwyane Wade, LeBron James or Mario Chalmers, who managed to beat George Hill off the dribble on a regular basis. Miami led by as many as 16 points late in the third quarter and by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter.
James finished with 22 points. Wade had 18 points and eight assists, and Udonis Haslem added 17 points and seven rebounds.
Indiana's David West had 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Hibbert produced 20 points and 17 boards. Hill scored 19.
The Heat did a good job running their offense down low early in Game 3, with James posting up on a regular basis.
The Heat finally got James and Wade some help in the scoring department.
Haslem, who has struggled defensively against Hibbert and West, made his first six shot attempts and scored 13 points to go with five rebounds in the first half.
The Heat shot 62.8 percent from the field in the opening two quarters, while the Pacers shot 50 percent.
West did his best to keep his team in the game, scoring 16 first-half points.
James led all scorers at halftime with 18 points.
NOTES: The NBA assessed Wade a flagrant foul for his elbow to the head of Pacers G Lance Stephenson in the second half of Game 2, but Wade wasn't suspended. No foul was called on the play at the time. The league did not upgrade West's elbow on Mario Chalmers on a screen to a foul. ... Pacers G/F Sam Young returned to the lineup after missing most of the second half of Game 2 with a sprained ankle. ... Heat G Ray Allen's 3-pointer late in the first half gave him his first points of the season against the Pacers in Indianapolis. He had been 0-of-11 from the field at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
