Jacari McRae | January 9th, 2020
No late-game theatrics in this one. The Miami Heat were in control from start to finish. Fueled by their poor performance in their last road game, Miami was on a mission to make a statement on Wednesday. And they did it by defeating the Indiana Pacers 122-108. With the Boston Celtics loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Heat are now second in the East standings.
With that said, here are my takeaways from the Heat’s win against the Pacers.
Jimmy vs TJ
Whenever the Heat played the Pacers during the big three era, chippy play was to be expected. Whether it was Lance Stephenson vs Lebron James or Tyler Hansbrough vs Udonis Haslem. This time it was Jimmy Butler and T.J. Warren. The theatrics started when Warren grabbed Butler’s arm on a drive to the basket midway in the third period. Butler didn’t like it, and the two players had to be separated. Both players were accessed technical foul. Warren later was ejected after picking up his second technical for clapping his hands in Butler’s face.
"You're f—ing trash."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 9, 2020
Jimmy Butler and TJ Warren got tangled up, and both players had a few words for each other 🤬 pic.twitter.com/C0VCJuuEFW
Butler also didn’t hold back in his post game comments, referring to Warren as “soft”. Butler later posted on Instagram a photo of the Heat’s schedule with March 20th’s matchup against the Pacers circled.
Bam outplays Turner (again)
Speaking of circling games, Bam Adebayo clearly had this one circled. Adebayo remembers the three centers the U.S. National Team kept ahead of him: Myles Turner, Mason Plumbee, and Brook Lopez. For the second time this season, Adebayo got the best of Turner. Adebayo’s full offensive game was on display during his 14 points, 8 rebounds first half.
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1215066209412096000
Bam clearly showed he was the better player. Adebayo finished the night with 18 points and nine rebounds on 9-of-12 shooting.
Winslow returns
After missing the past 15 games due to a back injury, Justise Winslow was back on the court. Winslow entered the game as the fourth man off the bench and shared ball-handling duties with the second unit. As expected, Winslow was rusty. Winslow played 16 minutes and ended the night scoreless.
With Winslow playing, Kelly Olynyk and James Johnson did not play. Chris Silva didn’t play until the last two minutes of the game. Dion Waiters was also listed as inactive.
Next up: The Brooklyn Nets on Friday. The game tips off at 730pmET.
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