Field Level Media
Aug 20, 2020
Duncan Robinson tied a franchise postseason record with seven 3-pointers in just his second career playoff game Thursday afternoon, helping the Miami Heat take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers with a 109-100 victory at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.
Robinson finished with a game-high 24 points, Goran Dragic added 20 and Jimmy Butler had 18 in a balanced attack that allowed the fifth-seeded Heat to successfully follow up on Tuesday's 113-101 triumph in the series opener.
Victor Oladipo, playing two days after suffering an eye injury that required brief hospitalization, paced fourth-seeded Indiana with 22 points.
Game 3 is slated for Saturday.
Indiana led by five points and Miami by no more than nine in a tightly contested first half that ended with the Heat clinging to a 51-46 advantage.
But Miami gradually pulled away in the third quarter, with Robinson playing a leading role.
The second-year forward, who tied for third in the NBA with 270 3-pointers made during the regular season, hit three in the third period as the Heat ran off to as many as a 16-point lead.
Jae Crowder chipped in with a pair of 3-pointers and Tyler Herro added a sixth for the Heat in the decisive run.
The Pacers got no closer than seven in the final quarter.
Robinson shot 7-for-8 from beyond the arc, the seven threes tying Damon Jones in 2005 and Mike Miller in 2012 for the franchise record.
Herro connected on three 3-pointers, while Dragic, Butler and Crowder added a pair apiece for the Heat, who shot 18-for-35 from deep -- setting a franchise postseason record for made threes -- and outscored the Pacers 54-36 from behind the arc.
Herro finished with 15 points, while Crowder totaled 10 and a team-high eight rebounds for Miami. Butler also found time for seven rebounds and a team-high-tying six assists.
Myles Turner and Malcolm Brogdon backed Oladipo with 17 apiece for the Pacers, while All-Bubble first-teamer T.J. Warren was limited to 14 points, missing all five of his 3-point attempts.
The entire Indiana starting five scored in double figures, with Aaron Holiday adding 12 points.
Turner tied Crowder for game-high rebounding honors with eight, while Brogdon accumulated a game-high nine assists.
--Field Level Media