NBA: Tyrese Haliburton’s career-best 43 points lift Pacers over Heat

FILE – Tyrese Haliburton #0 of the Indiana Pacers dribble the ball against the Washington Wizards at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on December 09, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Andy Lyons/Getty Images/AFP

Tyrese Haliburton exacted a measure of personal revenge with a tie-breaking 28-footer with 2.1 seconds remaining to cap a career-best 43-point performance and the Indiana Pacers continued their run of heavyweight knockouts Friday night with a 111-108 victory over the Miami Heat in South Florida.

Held without a field goal and to just one point in a home meeting earlier this month, Haliburton hit 14 of his 20 shots this time around, including a career-high 10 3-pointers in 16 attempts.

The 10th was the most spectacular, coming on Indiana’s final possession after the Heat’s Tyler Herro had buried a game-tying 3-pointer with 14.2 seconds to go.

Haliburton’s previous career high for points had been 38, recorded as a member of the Sacramento Kings in January at Philadelphia.

Buddy Hield chipped in with seven 3-pointers, accounting for all 21 of his points, helping the Pacers complete a nine-day sweep of the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics and Heat.

Herro paced Miami with 28 points, but the Heat dropped a second straight game despite his last-minute heroics.

In a tightly contested game that was tied at 84-all in the first minute of the final period, consecutive hoops by Haliburton — including a 3-pointer — allowed the visitors to go up 100-88 at the midpoint of the quarter before the Heat rallied.

Two free throws by Herro got Miami within 108-105 with still 51.2 seconds left, and after two Pacers misses, Herro got open on an inbounds play for a game-tying 3-pointer with 14.2 seconds to go.

But after a timeout, the Pacers got the ball to Haliburton, who went unassisted on his game-winning, long-range hoop.

The 3-point basket was a fitting ending in that the Pacers won the game from beyond the arc, going 21-for-47 and outscoring the hosts 63-39 from deep.

Haliburton also found time for a game-high seven assists, while Myles Turner grabbed a game-high-tying 11 rebounds to complement five points. Jalen Smith matched Turner’s rebound total while also adding 14 points, and Andrew Nembhard contributed 10 points, helping Indiana record back-to-back road wins for just the third time this season.

Herro did a majority of his scoring on 5-for-13 shooting from beyond the arc. Kyle Lowry backed him with 21 points and a team-high five assists, Jimmy Butler with 20 points, Bam Adebayo with 18 points to go with a team-high seven rebounds, and Haywood Highsmith with 10 points.

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