Heat Rally To Beat Pacers

After going down by as many as 15 points in the first half, the Miami Heat went on the comeback trail and was able to defeat the Indiana Pacers in a 109-100 decision.

Miami found itself down by a score of 60-48 at intermission, and Dwyane Wade had 20 of those points. The Heat went on a 12-5 run to open the third quarter to make it a two-point game with just under eight minutes to go in the third. The game stayed close through the end of the quarter, and the Heat fans in the AmericanAirlines Arena found their team tied with Indiana, 79-79 when the buzzer sounded.

The Heat took its first lead of the night since the first quarter on a dunk by Joel Anthony to make it 83-82 with nine minutes and 46 seconds to go. The Pacers tied it up shortly thereafter at 87 all on an and-one by Marquis Daniels, but Wade's driving dunk on the ensuing Heat possession put Miami up for good. Danny Granger hit a three-point shot to make it 98-99 with 2:41 left to go, but the Heat went on a 10-2 run to finish up the game.

Wade finished with 38 points on 15-for-24 shooting from the field. Wade also grabbed four rebounds, dished out eight assists and blocked two shots. On the flip side, Wade missed five free-throws, committed four fouls and turned the ball over four times. This was a nice night by Wade, but he could have more than 40 points if he just made his free-throws and didn't give the ball away to the Pacers.

In the first half, Miami's offensive was seemingly all Wade. But Wade got plenty of help when he needed it most, in the second half during the Heat's late surge. After getting into early foul trouble, Michael Beasley had 17-points on 6-of-11 shooting and six rebounds in just 28 minutes. Beasley scored 10 of Miami's 31 points in the decisive third quarter. The fact that Erik Spoelstra had enough faith in Beasley for him to play in the fourth quarter was an encouraging sign from the rookie forward out of Kansas State.
Shawn Marion also stepped up. One thing I like about Marion is that he never looks for his shot; he just takes what he is given. Marion ended up as Miami's second-leading scorer last night, with 18 points, nine rebounds and a season-high six steals.

It must have been a good night for Udonis Haslem. The 6-foot-8 center not only out-jumped the 7-foot Rasho Nesterovic for the jump-ball, his first of the season, he also had 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.

This was another night that we saw Mario Chalmers struggle with his shot and Chris Quinn make up for him off the bench. Chalmers missed all four of his field goal attempts while Quinn made three of his six attempts for eight points. Chalmers, however, did collect three steals for Miami.

After the game, Wade spoke of his hopefulness for the team to pull a string of wins together. Miami is one game above .500 with one more home game against Houston before going on a five-game road tirp. I could not think of a better time than now when this young Heat team would begin to mature and gain some type of consistency.

Injury Notes

Miami's 6-foot-11 center, Jamaal Magloire could have his season debut Monday against Houston. Magloire has been riddled with a broken bone in his left hand he sustained in preseason, and could provide some size for the Heat Monday when Haslem is matched up against the 7-foot-5 Yao Ming.

Forward James Jones, Miami's prime off-season acquisition, had his cast removed from his right wrist after surgery during training camp. It was initially projected Jones would be back in the first month of the new year, but Jones thinks he'll be back before the turn of the calender.

"I'm pain free," Jones said. "This is the first time I've been pain free shooting in like three months. It's a weight off my shoulders."