Indiana Pacers: 3 takeaways from the win over the Miami Heat
The Indiana Pacers’ third quarter struggles continue
Unfortunately, for the third game in a row, the Indiana Pacers were badly outscored in the third quarter after leading by double-digits at halftime. The team only mustered a grand total of eight points in the quarter, opposite to Miami’s 17, allowing the Heat to trim their deficit and eventually take the lead for most of the fourth quarter.
In need of more evidence for Indiana’s lack of acuity with good play in the third quarter? Look at this stat:
Pacers net rating by quarter (league rank):
— Tony East (@TonyREast) October 23, 2021
1st: +25.7 (5th)
2nd: +1.9 (13th)
3rd: -61.2 (30th)
4th: +28.9 (5th)
I asked Rick Carlisle what has been the struggle with third quarters on Friday. Here's his response: pic.twitter.com/yejOVGlAzg
With the Pacers taking early leads in virtually all of their contests so far, they need to fix their poor play coming out of the break. If not, a repeat of their collapse against the Hornets and the Wizards and their near-collapse against Miami will be inevitable.