INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Nembhard had 29 points and nine assists, Aaron Nesmith added 12 points and nine rebounds before an early exit and the Indiana Pacers routed the Miami Heat 123-99 on Saturday night.
Indiana matched its longest winning streak of the season with a rare second straight victory, this time taking the easy route. The Pacers never trailed and held a double-digit lead for most of the game. The Pacers made 17 3-pointers, one short of their season high, with Nembhard matching his season best with four.
Backup Micah Potter made four 3s and finished with 14 points. Jarace Walker had 13 points.
Tyler Herro had 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists on a night Miami shot just 39.1% from the field. Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 16 points, and Bam Adebayo had 13 points and nine rebounds. Miami has lost three of its last four and missed its first 11 3s on Saturday.
The game tipped less than 24 hours after another Miami-Indiana contest was set up in college football’s national championship game. And just like Friday night’s Hoosiers victory over Oregon, the Pacers wasted no time setting the tone — or running out to a big lead.
They used first-quarter runs of 12-2 and 9-0 to build an early 28-12 cushion. Miami trailed 36-18 entering the second quarter.
The Heat opened the second half with nine straight points, cutting the deficit to 61-54. But Indiana made it 71-58 on back-to-back 3s from Potter and Nembhard and used a 21-6 run to extend the margin to 97-68 late in the third quarter.