Giannis Triple-Double Powers Heat Past Pacers

Giannis Antetokounmpo put up 31 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists in just 31 minutes Friday night, and the Miami Heat ran past the Indiana Pacers 145-125 to open NBA Cup play. It was his second triple-double of the season in a Heat uniform.

Miami has now won two straight after a rough start, and this is what the Heat pictured when they brought Giannis to South Beach. He controlled the glass, ran the offense and never had to play heavy minutes to do it.

Miami Took Over in the Middle

The Pacers actually came out hot, scoring 42 in the first quarter. Then they managed only 46 over the next two quarters combined, and Miami won that middle stretch 67-46 to put the game away.

Giannis had plenty of help. Bam Adebayo scored 27 on 11 of 14 shooting. Klay Thompson had his best game since joining Miami with 25 points and seven 3-pointers, and he is now within 55 of Ray Allen for third on the NBA's all time 3-point list. Davion Mitchell chipped in a 15-point, 11-assist double-double.

Indiana Is Running on Fumes

This was a tough night for the Pacers before it even started. They had only 11 available players. Tyrese Haliburton is sidelined for at least a couple of weeks with a hamstring strain, and Obi Toppin's back went out before shootaround Friday morning. Lloyd Pierce ran the bench as acting coach with Rick Carlisle away.

Quenton Jackson led Indiana with 24 and Andrew Nembhard added 22 with nine assists, but the Pacers simply had nothing to answer Giannis on the boards.

The NBA Cup math makes this loss sting for Indiana. Teams play four group games, and every team that has reached the knockout round has gone either 4-0 or 3-1 in group play. Starting 0-1 short-handed is a hole.

Up Next

The Heat visit the Lakers on Monday, and the Pacers host Brooklyn on Sunday. Miami gets a big stage right away, and Giannis against Luka Doncic's Lakers is a fun matchup to circle.

My Smacktok lean: go higher on Giannis' rebounds at the Lakers. He grabbed 18 Friday, including six on the offensive glass, and Miami is clearly running its offense through him.

The Heat look like they have found something. If Giannis keeps stuffing the box score like this, Monday in LA is going to be appointment viewing.