MIAMI (AP) — Hassan Whiteside had 26 points and 22 rebounds, Tyler Johnson scored 15 off the bench and the Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 95-89 on Wednesday night.
James Johnson added 14 points for the Heat, who outrebounded Indiana 58-38 and won consecutive games at home for the first time all season.
Paul George scored 22 for the Pacers, who were hoping for a season-best third straight win and instead managed just 10 points in the fourth quarter. CJ Miles added 15 for Indiana.
Neither team led by more than seven, and the Heat got to that margin after James Johnson found Goran Dragic for a layup and a 92-85 lead with 3:35 left.
They needed to hang on desperately from there.
Miami didn’t score again until there were 12.9 seconds left, when Josh Richardson sealed the win with a dunk that put the Heat up five after Indiana didn’t foul.
The Pacers missed three 3-point tries that would have tied the game in the final 2 minutes, one by George and the last two by Myles Turner.
The Pacers shot 5 for 18 in the fourth, capping a 37-percent night from the field. They went scoreless over a 7-minute stretch in the second half, and Miami took the lead for good during that drought.
TIP-INS
Pacers: Monta Ellis (right groin strain) was sidelined again, and Rodney Stuckey played through a bruised left knee. … This was the start of Indiana’s sixth of 17 back-to-backs this season. … George has played 19 games at Miami, including playoffs. His record is 2-17.
Heat: It was the fourth time Whiteside reached 20 points and 20 rebounds in the same game, the second this season. … Justise Winslow returned from a 16-game absence due to a sore left wrist and scored two points in 21 minutes. … Dragic missed his first seven shots before connecting on a pull-up for his first basket early in the third quarter. He shot 4 for 15. … Dion Waiters (groin) missed his 10th consecutive game.
`CANES VISIT
Miami’s women’s basketball team — No. 13 in this week’s AP Top 25 — was at the game, along with coach Katie Meier. For some, it was their first time at a Heat game. “They were so excited,” said Meier, whose team next plays Friday at Florida International.
FREE THROWS
Indiana came into the night as the league’s fourth-best team at the foul line, Miami as the very worst. And both teams showed why — the Pacers went 14 for 17, the Heat 14 for 25.
UP NEXT
Pacers: Visit New Orleans on Thursday, the second game in a three-game, four-day trip.
Heat: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, the third game on this six-game homestand.
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