MIAMI _ The Indiana Pacers entered Saturday night's game at AmericanAirlines Arena as the NBA's definition of reeling, 0-4 and rudderless in the wake of the season-ending quadriceps injury of All-Star guard Victor Oladipo.
And then they ran into the Miami Heat, who upped the ante on rudderless with a 95-88 loss that came in the wake of Wednesday's "embarrassing" loss to the Chicago Bulls in the words of coach Erik Spoelstra and then Friday's homecourt humiliation at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
To put the Heat's predicament into perspective, consider that when Dwyane Wade converted a 3-pointer with 2:31 to play in the third period, it drew a loud ovation ... and brought the Heat within 82-67.
That was well after the Pacers used a 10-0 run in the first 1:59 of the third quarter to push to a nine-point lead after a competitive first half.
That from an Indiana team that had led for 17 total minutes in its previous four games.
And, so, the Heat, after committing 24 turnovers against the Pacers, will take a three-game losing streak on the five-game trip that opens Tuesday against the Portland Trail Blazers, now at 24-27 overall and 11-16 at home.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pacers with 31 points, with Hassan Whiteside finishing with a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double for the Heat and Wade adding 21 points.
Down 18 in the third, the Heat stormed back within 84-77 at the end of the period behind 10 points in the quarter from Wade.
Neither team then scored in the fourth quarter until Justise Winslow scored on a drive with 8:54 left to draw the Heat within 84-79.
The Pacers then pushed back to a 91-81 lead, with Spoelstra limited with only a single timeout remaining, the Heat simply out of time by then.
