Takeaways from a game the Heat leaned on All-Stars and free throws to take 3-0 series lead

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 124-115 win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday in the first round of the playoffs at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista. Miami holds a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 series:

Heat nearly blows 20-point lead, but hangs on to take 3-0 series lead against Pacers

The Heat’s All-Star duo came through when it mattered most in Game 3.

Bam Adebayo finished with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 shooting from the foul line.

Despite a 5-of-16 shooting performance, Jimmy Butler finished with 27 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Butler, who finished the regular season averaging the fifth-most free-throw attempts in the NBA at 9.1 per game, shot 17 of 20 from the foul line Saturday.

The Heat’s All-Star combo did its best work late in the game, with the Pacers rallying.

With Indiana trimming Miami’s 20-point lead down to four entering the fourth quarter, Adebayo and Butler combined to score 20 of the Heat’s 30 points in the fourth quarter.

“We won the game,” Butler said. “Truthfully that’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter if we won by 20 or won by one. So that just shows how resilient the group of guys that we have are. They play hard, never give up.”

Adebayo was dominant down the stretch, scoring 11 points with the help of 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line to go with six rebounds in the final period. With the Heat ahead by just two points, Adebayo grabbed two huge offensive rebounds — one with 1:54 to play and another with 1:39 to play — to keep an important possession alive that ended with Adebayo drawing a foul and making two free throws to extend Miami’s lead to four.

Those two free throws from Adebayo marked the start of a 10-3 Heat run to close the game.

“His biggest moments came down the stretch on both ends, those rebounds were big time,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Adebayo. “We needed those extra relief opportunities, because they jammed us up a couple of time and forced us into a couple of turnovers. Those relief points and those free throws were key.”

For the third straight game to open the playoffs, Spoelstra turned to the lineup of Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro, Butler, Andre Iguodala and Adebayo to close Game 3. But for the first time in three games, they finished with a negative plus/minus at minus-4 in six fourth-quarter minutes Saturday.

The Heat’s three-point shooting has been one of its biggest strengths all season, and it was on full display in the first half of Game 3. Then the Heat’s other offensive strength, getting to the foul line, made an appearance.

After setting a new franchise record for the most made threes in a playoff game with 18 makes from deep in Game 2, Miami set a new franchise playoff record for threes made in a half in Game 3. The Heat shot 11 of 20 from deep during the first two quarters.

The result was 74 first-half points for Miami, which is also a new franchise record for the most points scored in a playoff half.

But the threes stopped flowing in the second half, as the Heat shot just 2 of 13 from behind the arc over the final two quarters as Indiana did a much better job of defending Miami’s shooters.

How did the Heat overcome that?

Well, Miami really couldn’t overcome it as Indiana won the second half 59-50. But the Heat’s first-half lead was so big that it was able to do just enough down the stretch to hold on for the victory behind its ability to get to the free-throw line.

“We talked about how you’re going to have to get one out of the mud,” Butler said. “We’re not going to make shots every night. But I think we did a great job on the defensive end, and then getting to the foul line, and step up and make ‘em, you get a little bit of confidence.”

The Heat shot 24 of 28 from the foul line over the final two quarters. That means nearly half of Miami’s 50 second-half points came at the charity stripe.

“That helps you control the pace and the tenor of the game,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s free throws. “So when they would go on runs and start to gain some enthusiasm, Jimmy would find a way or Bam, whoever, would find a way to get to the free-throw line. It just helps you settle things.”

For the game, the Heat shot 43 of 52 on free throws. Miami outscored Indiana 43-21 at the foul line, as the Pacers finished with 28 free-throw attempts.

The 52 free throws the Heat attempted Saturday are the second-most it has finished a playoff game with and tied for the fourth-most it has finished any game with in franchise history.

“I can’t explain that,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. “Fifty-two free throws is ridiculous. They had 24 at the half — 24 attempts. Butler shoots 20 of them. This is the playoffs and I just thought some of those calls were just — I can’t explain it.”

The Heat finished the regular season with the league’s second-best team three-point shooting percentage at 37.9 percent. Miami also closed the regular season averaging the fourth-most free throw attempts at 25.2 per game.

There were questions before the season whether Dragic could remain healthy after he played in a career-low 36 games last season. But the 34-year-old Dragic is playing his best basketball of the season to open the playoffs.

Dragic’s hot start to the playoffs continued in Game 3 with 24 points and six assists in 36 minutes. His first half was especially impressive, as he entered the break with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting on threes.

“I knew that this third game was going to be really important for us,” Dragic said. “I just wanted to be aggressive. In the first half, they left open a couple of threes, I took those.”

While Dragic played most of the season as the Heat’s sixth man, he has handled the move to the starting lineup well to begin the playoffs. For the series, Dragic has averaged 22.7 points on 48.1 percent shooting from the field and 47.8 percent shooting on threes, and 5.7 assists in three games (all starts).

Dragic has done most of his damage either from the paint or three-point range, as he has shot 13 of 23 from inside the paint and 11 of 23 from deep.

The Heat has outscored the Pacers by 30 points with Dragic on the court in the series.

Dragic said earlier this season that he feels he can “still play three or four years easy,” and it certainly looks that way with how sharp he has been to begin the playoffs. He’s in the fifth and final season of the $85 million deal he signed in the summer of 2015 and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

“Let’s get that contract done at halftime [Miami Heat],” retired Heat star Dwyane Wade tweeted Saturday. “Sixth Man, Starting PG no problem! will do whatever is needed to get buckets!”

Herro’s first NBA playoff series has been one to remember.

The Heat’s 20-year-old rookie continued his strong start to the postseason with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting on threes in 29 minutes off the bench in Game 3.

Herro has averaged 16.7 points on 42.9 percent shooting, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in his first three playoff games.

And Spoelstra trusts Herro enough to put him on the court for important moments. Herro has logged 34 fourth-quarter minutes in the series, which is third-most among Heat players only behind Dragic and Iguodala.

“Tyler is a baller,” Dragic said. “He’s not afraid of the big moments. He’s demonstrating that right now.”

Has Herro found himself feeling nervous at any point during his first three playoff games?

“No,” Herro responded. “Like I said, whether it’s a regular season or playoff game, I’m going to come in with the same mentality. That’s to kill and do what my team needs me to do to help get the W. That’s it.”

But the Pacers continue to attack Herro’s defense, and there have been challenging moments for the first-year guard on that end of the court. Spoelstra even subbed Herro out with 3:56 to play for a defensive possession before putting him back in the game just 23 seconds later for an offensive possession.

“I had to take him out there at the end,” Spoelstra said. “The other end of the court, but he’s making good strides there, as well. He’s really learning how to impact winning on both sides of the floor. He has got a knack for putting the ball in the basket and his defense is improving.”

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With a 3-0 lead in its first-round series against the Pacers, the Heat is on the verge of its first playoff sweep since the Big 3 era.

The last time Miami swept a playoff series came in 2014, when it eliminated the then-Charlotte Bobcats in a first-round 4-0 sweep. That was LeBron James’ final playoff run with the Heat before joining the Cleveland Cavaliers as a free agent just months later.

Whether it’s a sweep or not, the odds are now completely stacked against Indiana even with All-Star center Domantas Sabonis scheduled to enter the Disney bubble on Saturday to begin his mandatory quarantine after missing the first three games of the series with left foot plantar fasciitis. No NBA team has ever overcome a 3-0 series deficit to advance in the playoffs.

The length of Sabonis’ quarantine is unknown at this point, but it probably doesn’t matter. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Sabonis is not expected to play against the Heat even after he clears quarantine because he hasn’t been able to play basketball for the past six weeks during his rehab.

Miami last won a playoff series in 2016, when it eliminated the Charlotte Hornets in the first round. But the Heat will have an opportunity to end that slump when Game 4 tips off Monday at 6:30 p.m. (Fox Sports Sun, TNT).

As for the other series in the Heat’s half of the Eastern Conference bracket, the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks hold a 2-1 series lead over the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic after taking Game 3 on Saturday. The Magic won Game 1, but the Bucks have won the last two and look to be in control of the series as a potential Heat-Bucks second-round matchup looms.