Pacers Pick Up Where They Left Off in Victory

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers’ long wait for the second round was well worth it.

The Pacers bounced back from an 11-day layoff and a sluggish start Thursday by going on a 26-5 run that started in the second quarter en route to a 94-81 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.

“It certainly felt good to be playing again,” Pacer Coach Rick Carlisle said.

Ron Artest had 25 points and six rebounds for the Pacers, who hadn’t played since finishing their first-round sweep of Boston on April 25.

The effects of the long break showed early, with the Pacers committing 10 turnovers in the first half and struggling to execute their offense.

“There are so many areas we could correct from this game and I’m sure you can attribute some of that to the long layoff,” said Pacer guard Reggie Miller, who scored 12 points.

Only two days removed from finishing a grueling seven-game series against the New Orleans Hornets, the Heat didn’t have the energy to capitalize.

Miami shot 38% from the field, missing countless layups and coming up short on jumpers.

“There are not a lot of holes in their game at either end of the floor,” Heat Coach Stan Van Gundy said of the Pacers. “I’m not looking for excuses, they just outplayed us.”

Game 2 is Saturday.

Rookie Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 22 points and seven rebounds. Caron Butler had 14 points and nine rebounds for Miami, which got the fast start it wanted before Jamaal Tinsley buried the Heat with hot shooting from the outside.

“You might say I was feeling it a little bit,” Tinsley said.

The point guard has worked hard this season to improve his outside shooting, and it showed Thursday. Tinsley made one three-point basket in the second quarter, and had two more at the start of the third as Indiana’s lead ballooned to 60-37 with just under eight minutes to play in the third.

Tinsley finished five of six from three-point range and scored a playoff career-high 17 points.