The Heat completed a historic feat, becoming the first team in 41 years to win all its games on a road back-to-back-to-back set by 10-plus points.
The Heat passed its final exam Tuesday night with flying colors. Playing inspired and without much hint of exhaustion, the Heat capped its back-to-back-to-back trips through Atlanta, Milwaukee and Bankers Life Fieldhouse by blowing past the Indiana Pacers 105-90.
The Heat, which beat the Hawks by 20 on Sunday and the Bucks by 18 on Monday, became the first team to win three road games on three consecutive nights by double digits since 1970-71 NBA champion Milwaukee.
You remember those Bucks? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson led them to a 66-16 record and 12-2 record in the playoffs.
The Heat — off to a 23-7 start — seeks similar near-perfection. On Tuesday night, though, coach Erik Spoelstra said his team enjoyed “a breakthrough moment” one that “catapulted us to another level.”
“We knew about the 1970-71 record — the double-digit wins, the back-to-back-to-backs. We knew nobody had done it. We knew all the elements,” said Dwyane Wade, who sat the entire fourth quarter after the Heat built a 35-point lead in the third quarter. “For us, this was about playing full-out, whatever lineup was on the floor, making sure we got the most out of each guy, no drop-off. It was probably the best we’ve played together in a while. We’re in a groove. Hopefully, we stay there for a while.”
Wade played 24 minutes and finished with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists. When LeBron James left with 9:44 remaining, he was a rebounds and three assists shy of a triple-double (24 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, four steals). Wade and James spent the waning seconds giving away their shoes and other Heat gear to fans in the crowd.
James arrived at the arena along with teammates Mike Miller and James Jones an hour before the team bus did.
“It’s all about leadership — not using [Tuesday night] as an excuse or a crutch, to say we’ve got a back-to-back-to-back or we’re playing a good team at home who had two days off,” James said. “It was just my mindset Tuesday] — to get here early, prepare myself mentally and dominate.”
The Pacers, who lost leading scorer Danny Granger to a sprained left ankle in the first quarter, hardly presented much competition.
Indiana trailed 97-71 with 5:33 to play when Chris Bosh went to the bench. The Pacers then rallied against the Heat’s bench, which provided 42 points, including a career-high 20 from Norris Cole.
The Heat built a 33-16 lead after one quarter. With Bosh, Wade and James alternating breaks for most of the second quarter, the lead stretched to 68-39 at halftime.
The only scare for the Heat? Mario Chalmers left with 9:31 in the third quarter and had a bag of ice on his left hand. But Spoelstra said his starting point guard could have returned had the team needed him.
Obviously, the Heat didn’t.
“Not every team has an opportunity to do something special like this in the regular season,” said Spoelstra, who by virtue of the Bulls winning Tuesday will not coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars.
“You look for these mini-battles in the regular season. Once we got the first two, our guys really wanted to take care of this one. At walkthrough [Tuesday] everybody was a little glossy-eyed. But [by] the time we got to the arena, all the excuses were thrown out. We wanted to finish it.”
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