The play in the Disney World bubble is entertaining, and that trend continued Tuesday afternoon with Game 1 of the first-round series between the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat. After a hard-fought, back-and-forth game that lived up to expectations, the Heat pulled away late in the fourth quarter for a 113-101 victory.
Jimmy Butler arrived in Miami this season with a desire to be the captain and lead his own team. He played the part in the regular season, and certainly did so in Game 1 against the Pacers. Shot 8-for-15 from the field, including a shocking 2-for-2 from 3-point country, Butler filled the goals as usual, finishing with 28 points, three handballs, four assists, four steals and two blocks.
The Pacers hung tight, and were able to keep things competitive for much of the second half. TJ Warren kept his strong play in the bubble and finished with 22 points, while Malcolm Brogdon matched him with 22 of his own. But after losing Victor Oladipo in the first quarter to an eye injury, they finally just didn’t have enough to keep up the whole way with the Heat, and disappeared down the line.
Here are three key takeaways from the game:
1. Oladipo injured again
Victor Oladipo was originally not to be played in the bubble. In fact, he had a very sit-down interview with Shams Charania of The Athletic, in which he explained why it just did not make sense to him, looking at his previous quad injury, and the circumstances under which teams play. Then, suddenly, he changed his mind.
Why, exactly, is not super clear, but he looked solid in the boiling games. Definitely not his self from the pre-injury, but much better than when he initially returned to court in the month before the shutdown. Unfortunately, he now deals with a very different problem, after being faced late in the first quarter by Jae Crowder in the break for a loose ball.
Oladipo left the game, and has since made his way to the hospital to evaluate. Although it is still too early to speculate on how long he may have been out, the initial reports do not sound encouraging. His vision was “really blurry”, head coach Nate McMillan said after the game. “He really could not see out of his sight when we arrested him.”
This is suddenly the main story in this series. With a healthy Oladipo, the Pacers had a real chance to advance to the second round for the first time since 2014. Without him, it will be extremely difficult to keep up with the Heat.
Jimmy Buckets gets it done
Few players in the league want the pressure and responsibility to be the best player on the team, just like Jimmy Butler, and that’s certainly what he got when he forced his way to the Heat last summer through a draw and trade. Against the Pacers, he passed his first test with flying colors.
When he checked early in the fourth quarter of the game, the Heat clung on to a two-point lead, at 89-87. From that moment on, they outscored the Pacers 24-14 to pull away for a 12-point win, with Butler scoring 10 of the last 12 points for the Heat in the stretch.
Goran Dragic, earning a rare start, deserves recognition for the enormous fourth quarter he also had because the Heat would not win this game without him. But it was Butler’s play over the last few minutes that really closed the show. In one second, he hit a rare 3-pointer, came down on the other end and forced a bounce ball, won that tip to secure possession, and immediately carried another push.
Butler was a disaster of the 3-point line this season, shooting 24.4 percent, which was the third worst mark in the entire league among players who attended at least 100 3s, and he had just seven games with multiple markets from downtown. That he secured his first playoff win in Miami with his outside shot was fitting in a way, another reminder of his confidence and desire to prove everyone wrong.
3. Heat transfer limited in the second half
Despite shooting nearly 50 percent from the field, knocking down the six 3-pointers and coming on the free throw line, the Heat want to lead by just four points. That was largely due to their inability to handle basketball, as they coughed up eight conversions, leading to 21 points for the Pacers.
Fixing that was an emphasis for Miami that came out of the break, and some head coach Erik Spoelstra talked about in the locker room clearly came to his players. They had only one turnover the entire second half, and the Pacers got only two points from it. Unable to get easy points from the Heat’s mistakes, and playing without Oladipo, the Pacers’ attack splashed late in the game.
