Adebayo scores 38, Heat hold off sliding Pacers 116-111

MIAMI (AP) —Bam Adebayo entered this season wanting more shots. The Miami Heatgave him those opportunities, and are thrilled at how it’s workingout.

Miami’sAll-Star center tied his season high with 38 points, Jimmy Butleradded 25 and the Heat held off the Indiana Pacers 116-111 onWednesday night to snap a two-game slide.

Adebayo was12 of 16 from the field, 14 of 14 from the foul line.

“Bam,obviously, was really good on both ends of the court,” Heat coachErik Spoelstra said.

Gabe Vincenthad 17, Tyler Herro scored 15 and Caleb Martin finished with 12points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who snapped a two-gameslide.

Buddy Hieldscored 29 points for Indiana, which has lost 13 of its last 15games. Myles Turner had 23 points and 11 rebounds, while T.J.McConnell scored 18.

TyreseHaliburton had 10 assists for the Pacers, but a Heat defense led byButler held him to 11 points — 32 fewer than he scored in a win atMiami on Dec. 23. His 3-pointer with 10.5 seconds left got Indianawithin three, but Adebayo sealed it with a pair of free throws.

“Miami has adeserved, an earned reputation as a hard-playing team, a team thatalways responds to previous losses,” Pacers coach Rick Carlislesaid.

The Heat andPacers split the four-game regular-season series. And just like thefirst three, this one went right down to the end. The combinedscore of the season series entering Wednesday was Pacers 294, Heat294; now, it’s Heat 410, Pacers 405, none of the games this seasondecided by more than five points.

It wasAdebayo’s 10th 30-point game of the season, matching the total ofall other Heat players combined — Butler has five, Herro four andMax Strus has one.

“He’s found agreat balance,” Butler said. “If you’ve got the hot hand, you’vegot to keep feeding that individual. And a lot of nights, it’s Bam.You’ve got to ride that wave sometimes.”

He’s thesixth player in Heat history to have at least 10 games of 30 ormore in the same season, and nobody had done it since LeBronJames— now the NBA’s career scoring leader —had 31 suchgames for Miami in 2013-14.

“The workspeaks for itself,” Adebayo said.

TIP-INS

Pacers:Including playoffs, it was the 1,996th NBA game for Carlisle —1,796 as a coach, and 200 more he got into as a player. No. 2,000would be next Wednesday against Chicago, Indiana’s final gamebefore the All-Star break. ... Andrew Nembhard scored 10 forIndiana.

Heat: Miamihad a season-low nine bench points. ... PG Kyle Lowry missed hissecond consecutive game with left knee soreness, and the Heatexpect him to miss at least two more. ... Jazz Chisholm of theMiami Marlins was among those in the crowd, getting a Heat jerseyas a gift during a third-quarter timeout – followed by a hug andhandshake from Hield, a fellow Bahamian.

BIGHALF

McConnell had16 points in the first half, the second-most points he’s ever hadby halftime in his career. He had 25 by halftime against Milwaukeeon Jan. 16, finishing that game with a career-high 29 — one of onlyfour 20-point games for him in the NBA. Including playoffs,McConnell averaged 5.5 points in 33 games against Miami enteringWednesday.

MUST-SEE TV

As would beexpected, Spoelstra was tuned in Tuesday night to watch James passKareem Abdul-Jabbar and become the leading scorer in NBA history.“I rarely stay up for those late games — but that was must-see TV,”Spoelstra said. “It’s so historic for him to be able to do that.And for Kareem to be in the building, that’s one of those amazingNBA moments.”