Takeaways From The Miami Heat's Loss To Indiana Pacers

The Heat have now lost two straight games

Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton heard Wally Szczerbiak’s “wannabe All-Star” comment and took it personally. After being listed as questionable with a sore wrist, he capped off a career-high 43 points with a game-winner on Friday night against the Miami Heat, handing them their second consecutive loss.

Here are some major takeaways from the game:

-The Heat’s normal starting five were back together for the first time since Dec. 14. They had great performances but Caleb Martin struggled. Granted, he was returning from an ankle injury but he played 19 minutes and only took one shot and wasn’t in any foul trouble. He did, however, record four rebounds, three assists, one steal, and two blocks.

-After missing the last three games with a knee injury, Kyle Lowry returned and had a great game. He scored 21 points which included four 3-pointers. He also ran the offense with perfection as he had five assists.

-Jimmy Butler is becoming known for his first-quarter performances. He finished with 20 points but scored 12 of them in the first quarter.

-The Heat have struggled this season with maintaining comfortable leads and they struggled again. After another hard-fought first half, they allowed the Pacers to score 55 second-half points, 26 of them coming from Haliburton.

-Haywood Highsmith had one of his best games this season. He finished with ten points off the bench while shooting 71 percent from the field. He also had three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.

Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog https://allball30.wordpress.com