Pacers Fall to Heat 145-125 After 42-Point First Quarter in NBA Cup Opener

Indiana scored 42 points in the first quarter Friday night at Kaseya Center. Over the next three quarters, the Miami Heat outscored the Indiana Pacers by 26 and won 145-125 in the opening game of East Group B play in the Emirates NBA Cup.

Indiana is 2-4 after a third straight loss. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle missed the game to be in Ogdensburg, New York, for his father's memorial, and lead assistant Lloyd Pierce coached in his place.

Jay Huff caught an alley-oop from Pascal Siakam for Indiana's first field goal. His next three baskets came off Andrew Nembhard passes, a layup and two 3-pointers, and Huff was 4-for-4 with 10 points in the opening quarter. Miami committed eight turnovers in the period, worth 18 points to Indiana.

Quenton Jackson's pull-up 3 from 25 feet made it 54-46 Indiana with 7:21 to go before halftime. The Pacers' next points came on a Nembhard 3 at the 2:32 mark. In between, Miami scored 16 straight, eight of them by Giannis Antetokounmpo on three layups and two free throws.

Indiana shot 7-of-20 in the second quarter and never got to the line. Miami led 68-61 at the half.

Group B will come down to "the point differential," Pierce said, and Miami won the final three quarters 109-83.

"Obviously when you're shooting well, you understand that trying to sustain that level of shooting is going to be tough, so you've got to stick to the basics," Pierce said. "Can we defend without fouling? Can we come up with some rebounds? They had seven offensive rebounds at the half and 15 free throws. And that's the separator for that team. They're a team that's going to put a lot of pressure on you in the paint, 64 points in the paint. They're a team that's going to put a lot of pressure on your defense if you don't have a tight, tight paint defense."

"And so when they can do that, the game slows down for us because we're having to chase and chase, and then we've got to take it out," Pierce continued. "So I think that was the biggest difference in the second quarter, just not rebounding on the defensive end and not keeping them out of the paint the way we did in the first quarter."

Klay Thompson hit 3-pointers at 9:30, 6:54, 6:34, 2:54, and 2:26 of the third quarter and missed only twice from deep in the period. Pierce called it a "perfect night" for Thompson to get going. His 26-foot step-back at the 2:26 mark made it 98-75.

Indiana got back within 15 before the quarter ended. Jarace Walker made two 3-pointers in the last 2:01, and Braden Smith split a pair of free throws to make it 103-88, with Pierce crediting the second unit for "a hell of a job" cutting into the deficit.

The Heat scored 15 of the first 20 points of the fourth quarter. Davion Mitchell's 3 with 9:24 left put them up 118-93.

Antetokounmpo scored 31 points with 18 rebounds and 10 assists on 13-of-19 shooting. Nine of his points came in the fourth quarter, when he also had five assists.

Bam Adebayo missed three shots all night. He scored 27. Off the bench, Pelle Larsson went 5-for-5 from the field and 7-of-8 at the line for 18 points, Thompson finished with 25, and Mitchell had 15 points to go with 11 assists.

The Heat scored 64 points in the paint to Indiana's 50. They also had 11 more rebounds, 48 to 37, and shot 58.1% overall while going 18-of-40 from 3-point range.

Jackson came off the bench for 24 points, going 9-of-13. Fifteen of them came after halftime.

Nembhard scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half, when he went 5-of-7 from 3-point range. He did not make another 3 after the break and finished with nine assists.

Walker had 14 points, eight of them in the third quarter. Siakam missed 12 of his 17 shots, including all five of his 3-point tries, and scored 13. So did Huff, whose only miss came in the third quarter.

At halftime, Indiana led 33-15 in points from 3-pointers. Miami made 13 3-pointers after the break. Indiana made six.

Indiana was without Tyrese Haliburton, T.J. McConnell, Ivica Zubac, Obi Toppin, Ben Sheppard, and Johnny Furphy. Haliburton and McConnell are out with hamstring strains, and Zubac has a left ankle sprain.

Indiana hosts the Brooklyn Nets at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. The Pacers' next NBA Cup game is a Nov. 13 home matchup with the New York Knicks.