Despite being the lower seed in this series, the Miami Heat have shown that they are the better team than the Indiana Pacers -- at least through the first two games. Jimmy Butler carried the Heat down the stretch in their 113-101 Game 1 victory, scoring 10 points the fourth quarter. In Game 2, it was Duncan Robinson's stellar shooting performance that proved to be the difference in Miami's 109-100 win. Even as Bam Adebayo was in foul trouble and finished the game with just seven points, Miami's depth lifted the team up. Goran Dragic tacked on 20 points, while Robinson finished with a game-high 24 points en route to tying Miami's franchise record for most 3s made in a playoff game (7).
As for Indiana, it's not quite at full strength. Domantas Sabonis left the bubble before the team even started its seeding schedule due to plantar fasciitis, and Victor Oladipo is still not back to 100 percent following a quad injury he suffered a season ago. Without Oladipo's playing like the All-Star we've come to know, and Sabonis scoring on the inside, the pathway to success in this series for Indiana become very murky.
Viewing information
Date: Saturday, Aug. 22 | Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Disney Wide World of Sports -- Orlando, Florida
TV: TNT | Connected TV: TNT app
Odds (via William Hill Sportsbook): Heat -5.5 | Over/Under: 213
Storylines
Heat: Miami has done an excellent job of not only sharing the ball on offense and getting everyone involved, but not allowing T.J. Warren to get going on the other end of the floor. Credit Jimmy Butler for his lock-down defense on Warren, who was held to just 14 points in Game 2, and finished the contest with a plus/minus of -7. That's a far cry from when he was dropping 50-plus points in the seeding games, and you can tell that Miami has made it a priority in this series to shut him down.
Pacers: If Indiana does nothing else in Game 3, it must stop Robinson getting hot from deep. On many of his 3s in Game 2, the sharpshooting guard was left a ridiculous amount of breathing room, and when that happens you can assume his shot is going in. After Robinson opened the game for Miami with three straight 3s, Indiana tried to get in a 3-point shootout with Miami, despite not having the appropriate personnel to do so, and that plan failed miserably. The Pacers need to put up a better fight on defense, and not try and play the Heat's game on the other end of the floor.
Game prediction
Until the Pacers can show that they can put up a solid offensive performance, the Heat will win every game in this series. Oladipo needs to find his All-Star play, and Indiana needs to tighten up defensively. Pick: Heat -5.5
