On Thursday night, the Miami Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers 142-132 thanks to 24-of-36 shooting by Jimmy Butler in the second half. Tyrese Haliburton of Indiana had a career-high 44 points.

For the Heat, rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 24 points. They fell down by 13 points in the first quarter and didn’t regain the lead until the beginning of the fourth quarter. Miami ended a three-game losing streak thanks to 19 points from Josh Richardson, 10 boards from Butler, and 16 points from Duncan Robinson.

The Heat took command in game one of a two-game series with a 28-6 fourth-quarter outburst. On Saturday, they will host the Pacers once again.

Despite leading 73–78 at halftime, the Pacers allowed 78–79 points in the second half, with 28 points coming from Haliburton. For the first time since Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point, 11-assist performance for Cleveland on January 2nd, Haliburton not only scored 44 points but also had 10 assists.

The Pacers rallied late after falling behind by as much as 16 points in the fourth quarter, thanks to 25 points by Obi Toppin. Even though he was only 2 for 11 from beyond the arc, Bruce Brown scored 15 and Buddy Hield had 12.

Halftime scoring of 73 points or more by a Miami squad is only done 17 times in franchise history (not counting playoffs). In those games, the Heat had a record of 0-16.

With an average of 127.0 points per game, the Pacers are just a hair ahead of the 1981–82 NBA record set by the Denver Nuggets. However, they let Miami score on an incredible 15 of its last 17 attempts.

After spending the past few days battling with a strained left hip, Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo left the game in the second quarter. Adebayo had already missed a game last week due to the injury.

Despite not having a single candidate for defensive player of the year, Miami stifled opposition in the fourth and final quarters.

With a season-high 13 points in the first three minutes, the Pacers got off to a quicker start than normal. For the third game in a row, the Heat have started the game trailing by at least 12 points; this is the longest such run since February 2015, when they were trailing by 13 points.

Haliburton got out to a fast start, scoring 13 points in the first quarter and 15 more in the second, all inside a four-minute span. As a result, the Pacers took a 73-64 lead into halftime, their seventh such lead this season. In these types of games this year, the Pacers were undefeated.

After the passing of longtime Pacers media relations director David Benner earlier this year, Miami paid tribute to him. A courtside seat was reserved in honor of Benner, along with a bouquet of yellow flowers, which is the primary color of the Pacers.