Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET the Miami Heat (5-2) will try to stay hot against the Indiana Pacers (2-6) at American Airlines Arena in South Beach. Watch the game on ESPN or live stream it free by clicking this link. Heat fans can find the radio broadcast on 560 WQAM, while Pacers fans may do likewise on 1070 The Fan.
Despite losing LeBron James this offseason the Miami Heat have retained their ball-movement on offense and averaged 102.7 points without the best player in the world. Part of that has been adding veteran forward Luol Deng, a quality shooter and heady passer, to replace James.
"We still have a lot to figure out," Deng said. "They doubled Bosh and D-Wade, and we did a good job of moving the ball and had a lot of open jumpers."
Those jumpers have the Heat's top three scoring options, Deng, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, all making upward of 36 percent from the 3-point line. Wade has shot 40 percent from beyond the arc, and while he's not known as a bomber, he's only attempting them when open.
Miami's real star has been Bosh. Without James running the show, Bosh has been asked to resume being the focal point like his days in Toronto as opposed to a glorified spot-up shooter. He's responded to the added responsibility by scoring 23.6 points a night to go with 10.3 rebounds and three assists.
The Pacers, meanwhile, have struggled mightily without their top two perimeter players from last season. Forward Chris Copeland has led the team in scoring with 15.5 points, and while center Roy Hibbert has increased his scoring, it hasn't been enough to cover their shortcomings.
If they can find more scoring though, good times may find Indiana; their defense allows just 94.6 points, good for fourth in the league.
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