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Victor Oladipo Returns, Scores 22 Points but Pacers Lose to Heat Again

The Indiana Pacers are now in a 2-0 hole after losing to the Miami Heat 109-100 on Thursday afternoon, wasting a good 22-point effort from guard Victor Oladipo.
Tom Brew|
Victor Oladipo Returns, Scores 22 Points but Pacers Lose to Heat Again
Victor Oladipo Returns, Scores 22 Points but Pacers Lose to Heat Again

Victor Oladipo's vision was just fine in Game 2 of the Indiana Pacers' series with the Miami Heat on Thursday, but he certainly doesn't like what he saw.

Oladipo, who missed almost all of Game 1 after getting poked in the eye, was back to normal on Thursday and led the Pacers with 22 points. But it wasn't enough in the 109-100 loss, and now the Pacers are in a troubling 2-0 hole in the best-of-seven first-round series.

"The series is not over, man,'' Oladipo said after the game. "Obviously they're up 2-0, but we've just got to make our adjustments, and give us a better chance to win the next game.

"We've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball, me included.''

The Pacers also let Miami have too many good looks from the perimeter, and the Heat took advantage of it. Miami went 18-for-35 from three-point range, and guard Duncan Robinson went 7-for-8 from beyond the arc and was the game's leading scorer with 24.  

The Pacers were not as fortunate. They made just 12-of-34 three pointers and T.J. Warren, who has been their leading scorer since the season restarted inside the bubble at Orlando, was 0-for-5 from three-point range and scored only 14 points.

"I think they had a great third quarter. We didn't make the shots we wanted to make or get the stops we wanted to get. We have to go back and look at the film and be better.

The Heat have owned the Pacers so far this season. They won the first three regular-season games as well, and the only Pacers win came last Friday in the final game of the year, when both sides were resting starters. 

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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew has been the publisher of “Indiana Hoosiers on SI’’ since 2019. He has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as an award-winning reporter and editor for more than four decades, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He operates seven sites on the “On SI’’ network. Follow Tom on Twitter @tombrewsports.

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