3 Reasons why Indiana Pacers pulled off surprising win over Miami Heat

After an embarrassing second-half effort against the Miami Heat on Thursday, where they blew a double-digit lead despite a career-high night from Tyrese Haliburton, the Indiana Pacers returned to Kaseya Center for the second time in three nights to face the Heat once again; however, this game came with a caveat.

Unfortunately, Tyrese Haliburton did not play on Saturday due to a right knee bruise and an upper respiratory infection. In addition, backup center Jalen Smith would miss his second game in a row due to problems in his left knee and left heel.

Considering the only other game the Pacers played without Haliburton this season ended in a 51-point loss to the Boston Celtics, expectations were pretty low on the night, with many saying they would feel satisfied if Indiana simply stayed competitive.

And stay competitive, they did. Following a Miami-driven first quarter, the Pacers would take charge for the rest of the game, outscoring the Heat in the second quarter to enter the half tied up at 65 and would kick it up a notch or two in the second half.

Despite missing the very engine of their offense, Indiana would still put up 79 points in the second half and came up with the win in the end, outscoring Miami in three out of the four quarters.

This win puts Indiana above the Heat in the East standings as they climb to the sixth seed before their In-Season Tournament quarterfinal matchup with the Boston Celtics on Monday.

With such a miraculous win without their superstar, there had to have been others who stepped up. Let's take a look at how Indiana came away with this win and what it means for the future.

1. Balanced scoring on historic efficiency

When a team is left without the engine to their offense and the beacon to most of their points, you would expect that team to put a subpar offensive performance forward.

That would not be the case for the Indiana Pacers against Miami. Despite Haliburton being out for the night, almost every other player stepped up to fill his shoes nicely.

This is extremely evident when you look at the box score and even the final score. Despite missing Haliburton, the Pacers still scored 144 points and had six players in double figures, with every single one also scoring over 15 points.

Out of the nine players that put up shots, only Buddy Hield and Andrew Nembhard shot under 50 percent, with Hield shooting 3/7 and Nembhard shooting an atrocious 1/9 from the field. However, Nembhard made up for his bad shooting by dishing out 11 assists and playing some solid defense.

Many have questioned the Pacers ability to generate offense without Haliburton, but on Sunday they showed that they have no problem doing that on certain nights. Of course, a night with this efficiency is definitely not sustainable, but it is nice to see almost everyone on the team put forth a brilliant offensive performance despite their star not playing on the night.

Of the six players to score in double figures, four had 20 or more points. Of these four, two will be discussed later, but the efforts of Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith cannot be looked over at all. One of the most efficient players on a night full of efficiency, Toppin put up 22 points on the night on 7/8 shooting and 4/5 from three-point range.

This is just another night in his resurgence in the past 10 games after starting the season off a bit rocky scoring-wise. In addition to Toppin, Aaron Nesmith also had a fantastic night, scoring 20 points of his own on 7/9 shooting and 4/6 from beyond the arc, with one of those threes coming after making Kyle Lowry fall to the ground without even dribbling once.

This game served as one of the reasons why Indiana has the best offense in the league. On any given night, whether or not Tyrese Haliburton is playing, one or more players are bound to have a good scoring night. This time it just so happened to be everyone.

2. Impressive defense

I'm just as surprised as you are. For a team that has been known for their lack of defense so far this season, the Pacers were very impressive on that side of the floor against Miami. Sure, some of it was due to Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro being out, but that shouldn't take much away from how good Indiana was on defense.

While Miami's shooting numbers aren't exactly bad and don't indicate much defense on Indiana's part, the play-by-play and eye test seems to disagree. Many of Indiana's runs this game were fueled by solid defensive pressure and forcing turnovers. Obi Toppin was at the forefront of this, finishing the game with four blocks and not only sparking Indiana's runs on the offensive end but doing his part on the other end, too.

Toppin also played fantastic defense on Jimmy Butler, by far and away the Heat's biggest offensive threat. On a night where Butler scored 33 points and shot 12/23 from the field, Toppin did the best job guarding him. Rick Carlisle employed the strategy of matching Butler's minutes with Toppin's and it paid dividends in the end, with Obi holding Butler to just 4/11 shooting, accounting for seven of his 11 misses on the night.

It is no secret how bad the Pacers have been on defense to start the season. Occasionally they will show flashes of defensive potential, such as the Detroit Pistons fourth quarter and tonight, but the key will be to keep it up for extended periods of time. Indiana clearly has capable defenders on the team in Bruce Brown, Myles Turner, and Andrew Nembhard just to name a few.

However, the key that Rick Carlisle needs to figure out is how to make these players feel locked in and how to make these defensive schemes work. While the defense on Saturday wasn't mind-blowing or anything (Miami shot 54% from the field and 48% from deep), it was the little things that kept the Heat at bay and allowed the Pacers to take advantage on offense, which is what they do best.

3. Big time nights from unlikely components

A team can have balanced scoring all they want. Ultimately, the game usually comes down to a few players that helped lead the way and for Indiana tonight, it was two guys that contributed the most.

Let's start with Bruce Brown. Despite discussion about his contract being an overpay, Brown has shown the ability to come through when the team needs an offensive boost and do everything he can to prove his worth.

Already a capable defender, Brown is still developing his offensive game to match with his defense, and from the looks of it, he is doing a good job. Against the Heat, Brown led the team with 30 points on 11/16 from the field and 4/6 from deep.

Brown has taken strides as a scorer with the Pacers, and it was only a matter of time before he had his first 30-point game as a Pacer. Luckily, he chose the night the team needed it most.

While Brown's contributions were certainly impressive, the real MVP of the night is TJ McConnell. After logging a DNP for the first Miami game, McConnell saw increased minutes without Haliburton on the floor and a shortened point guard rotation and stepped up to the plate.

Despite an inconsistent season, McConnell was everything the team needed on Saturday and more, scoring 20 points on near-perfect efficiency and dishing out 11 assists, making up for Andrew Nembhard's scoring shortcomings by doing it himself.

These contributions get McConnell the game ball by themselves, but it is even more impressive that he did this while coming off the bench, logging his first double-double of the season on a night when the team needed every bit of it.

With Haliburton most likely healthy to play on Monday against Boston, hopes are high for a huge win for Indiana to advance to the semi-finals of the In-Season Tournament and remain undefeated.