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Tim BontempsESPN
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. The Indiana Pacers find themselves on the verge of elimination after losing 124-115 to the Miami Heat on Saturday to fall behind 3-0 in their best-of-seven first-round series.
An important factor in the defeat was that the Heat went to the free throw line a whopping 52 times, including 20 trips for Heat ahead of Jimmy Butler alone. The Pacers went 28 times.
“I can not explain that,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said after the game. “I mean, 52 free throws is ridiculous. They had 24 in the half, Butler shot 20 of them … this is the playoffs, and I thought some of those conversations were … I can not explain it.”
Indiana is one loss away from the road in the first round for the second straight year and for the third time in four years. It would also be the fifth straight finish of the first round of the playoffs.
When the Pacers were in the 18th half, it looked like they would just move on without a lot of fighting.
But then, after the team had a discussion in the locker room, the Pacers came out on top in the second half with a much better effort, closing out after three quarters within four points, before finally losing a nip and tuck game with bad luck. execution downward. stretch
“At that point, you have nothing to lose,” Pacers guard Victor Oladipo said of the team’s approach in the second half. It was like, ‘Make something happen or be embarrassed.’ One of the two.We did a great job fighting and getting ourselves in the game.But unfortunately a lot of things happened, you know what I said? That happened if not for corona.
“Unfortunately a lot of things happen. You can make excuses, you can blame everyone, or you can just figure it out. In the second half we did a better job by just figuring it out. We came short, of course. , but we have to have the same mentality in the next game and go out and do the impossible. I know everyone thinks it’s over and thinks it’s a wrap. I’m sure they do too. But it has been done before, and why can we do it? We need to have that mentality and really believe that if we want to achieve something special. “
It will certainly take something special for Indiana to become the first team to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit and win an NBA playoff series.
However, this will require Indiana to be much more disciplined than it was on Saturday. The Heat – and Butler in particular – could carry a path that runs to and from the free throw line.
The difference between Miami’s free throws (43) and field goals (34) is the biggest this season, including both regular seasons and playoff games; and it was the biggest difference in a playoff game since the Los Angeles Lakers had 12 more free throws than field goals against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012.
Since 2000, it was the sixth most free throw attempt attempted by any team in a playoff game that ended in regulation. The other five all included players who are notoriously bad free throw shooters who want to send the opponent to the line, such as Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan, Ben Wallace and Shaquille O’Neal.
“Yeah, there’s definitely a difference in how many free throws they shot against us,” Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon said. “I do not know if that is a mix of refs, that we are not aggressive enough, whatever.
“But that must change.”
One person who saw no problem was Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
“That helps you control the pace and the tenor of the game,” Spoelstra said of repeatedly coming to the finish line. “So if they were to go on runes and gain some enthusiasm, Jimmy would find a way like Bam [Adebayo] or who would find a way to get to the free throw line, and that just helps you sort things out, and that’s a great skill that we do not consider applicable.
“In a playoff game, to be able to make 20 free attempts [from Jimmy] – and those were all collisions. It’s not that he flows his way to the line. He puts his body there and makes contact and makes you make the call. “
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