Game Rewind: Pacers 113, Heat 107 (OT)

For the seventh time in the last eight seasons, the Indiana Pacers are heading to the postseason.

Entering Sunday evening's matchup with the Miami Heat, the Pacers' magic number was down to one. And in front of a packed Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indiana overcame a slow start to the night at came out with a 113-107 overtime win against Miami, clinching a spot in the 2018 NBA Playoffs.

"Congratulations to this group, I’m proud of what they’ve done," said Pacers head coach Nate McMillan after the game. "I love the fact that we earned the right to be there. We didn’t have to depend or have help from another team in getting there. Tonight they just showed they wanted it."

With the game tied at 96 and 7.1 seconds left on the clock, the Pacers had the final play of regulation and gave the ball to Victor Oladipo. The All-Star guard slipped while making a move and was forced to heave up an off-balance shot that sailed wide, sending the game to overtime.

In the extra period, Myles Turner overcame what had been to that point a tough game. The third-year center assisted on two straight Pacers field goals, then followed it up on defense by denying a Miami shot that turned into an Oladipo 3-pointer on the other end. The flurry of offense put the Pacers up 106-100 with 1:20 remaining and caused a Heat timeout.

After Josh Richardson scored on a layup, it was Collison who began doing the damage, first hitting a 3-pointer from the corner, then following it up with an isolation jumper while matched up against Kelly Olynyk. It was a bevy of clutch buckets from Collison for the second game in a row, whose timely shooting helped put the Clippers away on Friday night.

"(My teammates) know that I like putting myself in these positions," Collison said of his late-game heroics. "They kind of predicted the moves I was going to make. Vic made a heck of a play, he found me in the corner a couple times and I was able to hit some big shots. It’s not me, it’s my teammates that gave me that support."

Once his game-sealing jumper fell through to put the Pacers up by seven with 20 seconds left, Miami called a timeout while the Pacers celebrated at half court, knowing the crunch-time shots had punched the Pacers' ticket to the postseason.

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Indiana had entered the fourth leading by eight, but after the Heat cut their deficit down to just one point on a layup from Olynyk, Pacers head coach Nate McMillan reinserted the majority of his starting unit back on the court with just over 7:00 remaining in the game.

As Olynyk and James Johnson connected on back-to-back 3-pointers, it was Oladipo who had the answer, drilling a three of his own from the corner to regain a 93-91 lead. Oladipo finished the night with a game-high 23 points, passing out five assists in the process.

Less than a minute later, the Heat regained the advantage as Goran Dragic got his shot to fall, putting the visitors up by three.

With just 1:08 remaining in the game and trailing by two, McMillan called timeout to set up his team for the final 68 seconds.

As Oladipo controlled the ball, the All-Star surged down the lane, drawing a foul and getting sent to the free throw line where he hit both to tie the game at 95.

Following a miss from Dwyane Wade, Oladipo took control again, shooting a 3-pointer. The shot rimmed out, but the rebound found its way into the hands of Myles Turner who was quickly fouled and sent to the line where he made one of two, putting the Pacers up 96-95 and causing a Heat timeout with 21.7 on the clock.

On their final possession, Heat forward James Johnson was fouled in the act of shooting by Thaddeus Young, where he hit the first free throw and missed the second, tying things up at 96 with 7.1 on the clock and setting up the Pacers up for the final shot of regulation.

On the final play, Oladipo lost his footing and had to force up a tough shot, sending the game to overtime where Indiana used a series of impressive plays from Turner and Collison to seal the #PacersWin.

Miami opened up the night locked in on offense, making five of their first eight shots from the field and jumping ahead 13-6, triggering an early timeout from Pacers head coach Nate McMillan. Following the stoppage, the Heat's barrage continued, outscoring the Pacers 15-8 as Tyler Johnson racked up 12 points in the first quarter alone, opening up a 30-21 lead.

The second quarter began on a much brighter note for the Pacers, as Indiana opened up on a 15-6 run, tying things up at 36 after Thad Young backed down his defender and got the layup to fall.

With the half winding down, the Pacers continued their offensive streak, opening up a 50-46 lead when Thad Young converted an and-one. But despite leading by as much six points, the Heat stormed back to close the second quarter, grabbing a 53-52 lead as the teams entered the locker room.

Coming out of the break, it was Young who had it going for Indiana, scoring 11 points in the third as Indiana began to take control of the game. After the Heat trimmed their deficit down to three points with 2:46 remaining in the quarter, the Pacers finished off the frame on a 7-2 run, brining an 82-74 lead into the fourth.

The lead, however, nearly disappeared as quickly as it came when the fourth quarter got underway as the Heat charged right back into the game to get within three points in the opening two minutes. The surge from Miami caused Pacers head coach Nate McMillan to call a quick timeout, attempting to refocus his group.

Moments later, with the Heat still rallying, McMillan elected to reinsert his starters earlier than usual, looking to regain control of the contest.

Down the stretch, the Heat managed to tie the game at 96, sending the contest to overtime. But in the final five minutes, it was all Pacers, who used another impressive late-game performance to clinch a berth in the postseason.

"This is one of the most unique teams I’ve ever been around, especially with the guys we have," said Thad Young, who finished with 22 points. "Everybody is kind of chipping in and doing their part. There are no egos in the locker room, everybody just goes out there and does their job and we try to win as many games as possible. The biggest thing for us is to continue to believe in what we have in this room. We’ve done it all season long. It showed, especially in overtime tonight."

Victor Oladipo (23 points) and Thaddeus Young (22 points) each surpassed 20 points for the Pacers.

The Pacers outrebounded the Heat 51-39. Indiana improved to 23-7 when outrebounding their opponents.

Cory Joseph finished with a game-high 10 rebounds, which is one short of his career high of 11.

Indiana improved to 3-0 in overtime this season. All three wins have come at home.

"Miami smacked us in the first quarter. We kept our poise…and we were able in overtime to win against a scrappy Miami team. We had a number of guys step up and do some good things, some big plays tonight. Thad with that recovery play, the blocked shot. I thought DC came in late and became a closer for us, knocking down some big shots. Bojan had eight rebounds tonight, Cory had 10 rebounds tonight. So it was a total team effort, I’m just happy. They earned the right to play postseason basketball." -Pacers head coach Nate McMillan

"In the closing minutes they know that I like putting myself in these positions. They kind of predicted the moves I was going to make. Vic made a heck of a play, he found me in the corner a couple times and I was able to hit some big shots. It’s not me, it’s my teammates that gave me that support." -Darren Collison on late-game situations

"I thought they adjusted and adapted but unfortunately we didn’t have time to adjust and give them a steady dose of what we wanted to do. He (Darren Collison) stepped up for them and made big shots, made some big plays." -Heat forward Kelly Olynyk

After Indiana missed its first three field goal attempts in overtime, the Pacers made their last six shots and a pair of free throws to outscore the Heat 15-7 over the final 2:44 of the extra period.

The Pacers tip-off a four-game west coast swing in Golden State on Tuesday night as they face the Warriors. The action is set to begin at 10:30 PM ET.

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