INDIANAPOLIS _ The Miami Heat were badly positioned for this one when the schedule came out, a reality even Goran Dragic could see with one eye closed.
Arriving in Indianapolis at 4:22 a.m. for Sunday's 6 p.m. game against the Indiana Pacers, and lacking the motor of their drive-and-kick 3-point offense, the Heat finally had a predictable moment in their unpredictable run that still has them winners of 21 of their last 26 games.
With Dragic's right eye swollen almost completely shut due to an orbital contusion that had him sidelined, the Heat hung around until the waning minutes before falling 102-98 Sunday night to the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The loss kept the Heat at No. 9 in the Eastern Conference, one spot beyond the final playoff seed, a game behind the No. 8 Milwaukee Bucks. Had the Heat won, they would have moved into No. 8 and within a half-game of the Pacers, who remain at No. 6 in the East.
Center Hassan Whiteside led the Heat with 26 points and 21 rebounds, with guards Dion Waiters and Wayne Ellington adding 20 and 19 points, respectively. Forward Paul George led the Pacers with 28 points.
The Heat entered having won the previous four games in the series, after losing the previous three. The Heat, however, have not won during the regular season in Indiana since Feb. 14, 2012, losing their last 10 visits.
The Heat deplaned at 4:22 a.m. Sunday morning after flying from South Florida following Saturday's 8 p.m. start against the Toronto Raptors and then losing an hour with the switch to daylight-saving time. The Pacers had been idle since a Friday night road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
With Dragic sidelined after an inadvertent elbow from Raptors guard Cory Joseph a night earlier, Josh Richardson started at point guard for the Heat, Richardson's first start since Jan. 6 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
After trailing by 12 earlier, the Heat closed within 86-81 midway through the fourth quarter on only Richardson's second basket of the night, a 15-foot jumper, but the Pacers countered with a Rodney Stuckey 3-pointer to move back ahead 89-81.
But with an Ellington 3-pointer, the Heat later closed within 93-88 with 5:43 to play. James Johnson then banked in a 3-pointer to draw the Heat within 93-91 with 5:08 to play. Finally, another 3-poniter by Ellington, with 4:10 to play put the Heat up 94-93.
George then stepped into a 20-foot jumper for a 95-94 Pacers lead, countered by a Waiters jumper for a 96-95 Heat lead.
After misses on both ends, the Pacers got a floater in the lane from point guard Jeff Teague for a 97-96 lead with 2:15 to play. Teague then blocked a Whiteside attempt on one end, with Myles Turner forcing his way to the line with 1:38 left, converting both for a 99-96 Indiana lead.
Ellington then worked off a curl but was off with a 3-pointer with 1:24 left, with Turner scoring on a putback on the other end for a 101-96 lead with 58.3 seconds to play.
After again falling behind by double digits in the third period, the Heat crawled back within five before going into the fourth down 83-75, with Whiteside up to 24 points and 17 rebounds at that stage, a stage when George had 26 points.
The Heat closed within two late in the second period before going into halftime down 60-53 after a late 3-pointer from Indiana's C.J. Miles.
It wasn't difficult to detect the more-rested team, with the Pacers outscoring the Heat 16-0 on fast-break points in the first half.
Although he had 15 points and nine rebounds in the first half, Whiteside missed several point-blank attempts in shooting 6-of-13 in the first half, also drawn out of position for several Pacers scores at the rim.
The rested Pacers pounced on the Heat at the outset, pushing to a 12-point lead in the opening period and going into the second quarter up 32-22.
It was an inside job early for the Pacers, with 22 first-quarter points in the paint, drawing in Whiteside for block attempts and then scoring after his rotations.
The game concluded the three-game season series and was the Heat's lone visit. The Heat won the first meting 95-89 Dec. 14 behind 26 points and 22 rebounds from Whiteside and then won 113-95 Jan. 25, with Whiteside closing with 22 points and 17 rebounds.
