LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Jimmy Butler scored 28 points, Goran Dragic had 24 and the Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 113-101 on Tuesday in the opener of their Eastern Conference first-round series.The Heat pulled away in the closing minutes, long after the Pacers had lost star guard Victor Oladipo to an eye injury.Bam Adebayo had 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Heat, who were just a little bit better in a mostly even matchup between the Nos.
4 and 5 seeds, who were separated by a game in the standings in this pandemic-shortened season.Indiana went 6-2 in the seeding games and Miami was 3-5, with the teams splitting a pair of meetings.