Miami needs to turn up the heat

INDIANAPOLIS — The Miami Heat let Indiana control the pace of Game 1 and they paid for it.

The Heat outscored Indiana 14-0 on fastbreak points, but the Pacers forced Miami to play in the halfcourt for most of their 94-81 victory on Thursday night.

If the Heat have any chance of evening the best-of-7 series today, they know they have to up the tempo in Game 2.

“If we’re going to be a halfcourt team, we’re playing right into Indiana’s hands,” Heat guard Eddie Jones said. “They’re a great, great halfcourt defensive team.”

Dictating the flow of the game helped the Pacers overcome being outrebounded 47-39 and outscored 34-30 in the paint by a much smaller Miami front.

Indiana was able to keep the young, athletic Heat from getting into the open court where they thrive.

“If you compared the two teams performances from Game 1, the difference was they were able to execute their offense against us,” Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said.

Indiana point guard Jamaal Tinsley was a big reason for that. Like the rest of his teammates, Tinsley struggled to get into the flow of the game after an 11-day layoff between playoff series.

Once he settled down, however, the Pacers took control.