Pacers and Heat Tangle In Conference Showdown
The Indiana Pacers take on the Miami Heat in an NBA seeding game in Orlando on Monday night.

The Pacers (43-27) have mostly thrived during the restart to the season, as they've won four of their first five seeding games and have drawn even with the Heat record-wise. Miami does have the head-to-head advantage over Indiana for the No. 4 seed, however, making this game a golden opportunity for the Pacers to make some headway. Indy's most recent success came at the expense of the Los Angeles Lakers, which they toppled by a 116-111 score on Saturday evening. T.J. Warren once again paced Indiana in scoring with 39 points, complementing them with five rebounds and one assist. Malcolm Brogdon turned in 24 points, six assists, five rebounds and one steal. Victor Oladipo contributed 22 points, seven boards, five assists and one steal. Aaron Holiday and Myles Turner had matching seven-point tallies, with Holiday adding seven assists, six rebounds, three steals and one block.

The Pacers will list Warren (foot) as questionable for Monday's game. Domantas Sabonis (foot) remains away from Orlando.

The Heat (43-27) has been trending in the opposite direction of their opponent thus far, as they've dropped three of their first five seeding games. Their most recent stumble came against the red-hot Phoenix Suns, which toppled them by a 119-112 score Saturday night, a game the Heat was forced to play without Jimmy Butler (foot), Goran Dragic (ankle) and Kendrick Nunn (personal). Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro co-led the Heat with 25 points apiece, with Herro also dishing out 10 assists and pulling down eight rebounds. Bam Adebayo followed with 18 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, three blocks and one steal. Jae Crowder poured in 17 points, while Andre Iguodala furnished 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Heat will list Butler as questionable for Monday's game, but he was able to practice Sunday and is on track to play. Dragic also went through a full practice Sunday and is likewise expected to suit up, while Nunn (personal) remains out.

Monday's game marks the third and final meeting between the teams this season. The Heat owns a 2-0 series lead, having notched 113-112 and 122-108 wins Dec. 27 and Jan. 8, respectively.
Posted on: 8/9/2020 3:55 PM
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