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Pacers-Heat Preview

Jan 18, 2010 - 6:38 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Indiana (14-26) at Miami (20-19), 7:30 p.m. EDT

With few opportunities to play at AmericanAirlines Arena over the next five weeks, the Miami Heat are probably looking forward to a game on their home court.

A visit from the Indiana Pacers could also help the Heat bounce back from a lackluster effort to conclude their most recent road trip, and they will try to earn their third win this season over them on Tuesday night.

The Heat (20-19) will play just five home games until Feb. 23. When that stretch ends, they will have played 19 of 24 on the road, including a recently completed six-game road trip that began Jan. 8.

Miami finished 3-3 on that season-high trek but it ended with a 98-80 loss to Oklahoma City on Saturday night.

Only three players reached double figures and the Heat shot 41.5 percent as they failed to earn their third straight win.

Despite his team's off-night, Michael Beasley matched a career high with 28 points. Dwyane Wade added 24 points and broke the team's record for career assists.

"We didn't play our game like we wanted to," Wade told the team's Web site. "We didn't hit a lot of shots."

The Heat's star guard has hit plenty of shots over the past three games, averaging 32.0 points on 58.3 percent shooting. Wade has also scored a team-best 28.5 points per game in his team's two wins over Indiana this season.

With his help, Miami has won each of those games by at least 13 points, including a 114-80 home blowout on Dec. 27. The Heat, who have limited the Pacers (14-26) to 33.8 percent shooting in those wins, are attempting to win their fourth straight at home over Indiana and seventh in eight home matchups.

The Pacers, though, enter Tuesday searching for their fourth win in five games and will attempt to earn back-to-back road victories for the first time since Nov. 4-17.

Indiana, however, is 4-16 away from home and hasn't beaten an opponent with a winning record there this season. Two of those wins have come against NBA-worst New Jersey, including a 121-105 victory in their most recent road game Friday night.

The Pacers have allowed at least 101 points in six straight games, and they failed to top the century mark for the first time in that same span in Saturday's 101-96 home loss to New Orleans.

Indiana stayed within single digits for most of the game but trailed throughout the second half as it was denied a fourth straight win. Roy Hibbert scored a career-high 27 points, but only one other player had more than 12.

The presence of leading scorer Danny Granger, who missed the previous trip to Miami with a torn right plantar fascia, could help in the opener of a three-game trip. Granger has averaged 25.0 points in his last two meetings with the Heat and scored 22 in a 96-83 home loss Oct. 30.

Indiana is 3-3 since Granger returned after going 5-11 while he was out.

"That's our leading scorer," Dahntay Jones said. "It's great to have him on the floor. Our offense is kind of structured around what he does. He's always a great weapon to have out there."

In his first full season in Miami, Jermaine O'Neal has averaged 20.5 points on 65.0 percent shooting in two games against his former team.