Miami Heat: Can the team win its second straight?

After a complete rout of the Brooklyn Nets, the Miami Heat are looking to keep the pace going tonight against the Indiana Pacers.

Don’t look now, but the Miami Heat’s brand-new Vice jerseys might be cursed.

Maybe that’s a little extreme, but after dropping the first three contests donning the new uniforms, the Heat returned to form while rocking their classic white and red look at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The trip to New York’s most populous borough proved fruitful, not only for conspiracy theorists, but for those awaiting Tyler Johnson’s awakening.

Johnson posted a season-high 24 points in the win.

Reaching deep into his comfort zone, Johnson scored best off of springy cuts and confident dribble gathers. In fact, all three of his missed shots—he was 9-for-12 on the night—came on catch and shoot attempts. Last season, catch and shoots comprised 51 percent of Johnson’s attempts, even though they weren’t exactly his strong suit, as he converted on just 37 percent of them.

Finding his rhythm on pullup jumpers and darting cuts is more of Johnson’s speed, and he was the maestro controlling the tempo, as Brooklyn failed to have a solution for his activity.

Tonight, against the Indiana Pacers, continuing to capitalize on those strengths will ease the burden of a Heat team still without a full roster and facing the third best team in the Eastern Conference.

Full Strength

While the Heat are reporting certain absences from Dion Waiters, Dwyane Wade and James Johnson, the Pacers enter tonight at full strength.

Miami can still benefit from certain matchups, namely Hassan Whiteside bullying the Pacers in the paint, but Indiana’s committal to its preferred playstyle will put much of the night’s work on Miami’s anticipatory defense.

The Pacers are heading in the opposite direction as the rest of the NBA. During his tenure, head coach Nate McMillan has emphasized the need to get shots, even if they aren’t 3’s or drives, which runs counter to the current pace and space narrative in the NBA.

Indiana is 29th in the league in 3-pointers attempted per game, a stat owed to the types of scorers Indiana employs. Sure, the team boasts sharpshooters like Bojan Bogdanovic, Cory Joseph and Doug McDermott, all of whom are shooting at least 42 percent from 3.

They’ve done so, however, on a combined 123 total attempts, only 18 more than 34 percent 3-point shooter Victor Oladipo.

Running Indiana off the arc isn’t going to win Miami the game.

Rather, controlling the cluster of motion that starts just inside the 3-point line and revolves around Sabonis’s two-man game, usually with either Tyreke Evans or Oladipo, can turn the tides in the Heat’s favor.

Sabonis, who appears like an undersized power forward, has incredibly confident and capable footwork. He knows how to free himself of coverage in even the tightest spot, whether rolling off the screen or recovering after an offensive board.

In Miami’s first bout with Indiana this season, Sabonis notched 17 points on 85 percent from the floor, testifying in his favor of finding easy and high-quality looks.

Stopping him at the rim should be a last resort considering his ability to elevate. Instead, communicating on screens early and often will keep Miami in the race.

Otherwise, the Heat aren’t entering the night outmatched by Indiana.

Kelly Olynyk, who got Thaddeus Young ejected in the first Miami-Indiana contest, will surely stay under Young’s skin, while Johnson’s revival will make for an exciting backcourt matchup against Oladipo and Evans.

The Heat have already gotten the ball rolling this week; now it’s time to keep it up.