The Indiana Pacers have played very well defensively against the Miami Heat in their semifinal series, but on Thursday night in Game 3 they were able to cruise to victory thanks to better offensive execution.

They didn’t shoot a high percentage, making 43.4% of their shots, but they were effective because of the best passing we have seen from the Pacers in the postseason. They assisted on 20 of their 33 field goals (61%), the highest percentage through eight games.

Aside from several poor entry passes by Paul George, leading to a number of turnovers, Indiana fed Roy Hibbert and found the open man very well. Indiana reversed the ball well in the second half and made the ensuing shots as they outscored the Heat 51-32 en route to a 94-75 win.

Frank Vogel said prior to the game that “ball movement is our best friend” and the coach provided to be prophetic.

Aware that passing would be a focus on offense and that the Pacers can fall into stagnant stretches with the basketball, I decided to chart the number of passes made on each possession and the outcome. My data did not include possessions deemed an obvious fastbreak as I focused on the halfcourt offense, run very well by George Hill and backup Darren Collison.

After crossing midcourt, the Pacers completed a possession (took a shot, turned the ball over, or got to the line) with one pass 29 times. In those situations, they were 9-for-20 from the field, committed five turnovers and earned three trips to the foul line.

On 27 possessions, Indiana passed the ball twice before reaching an outcome. They went 11-for-18 on shot attempts, committed six turnovers and attempted six free throws.

When the Pacers passed the ball three times as they did on 13 possessions, one turnover was committed, two foul shots were attempted and they were 5-for-11 from the floor.

Nine times, they made at least four passes on a possession. They were just 1-for-6 in those situations, but they committed one turnover and got to the line twice.

As in any NBA game these days, there were trips down the floor in which the Pacers crossed midcourt and didn’t make a single pass. They did so five times in Thursday’s win, going 1-for-4 and earning two free throws.

Here’s a breakdown of each situation:

Pacers Passing

Passes (% of POS), FG%, TO%, FT%*

Zero (6%), 25%, 0%, 20%

One (34.9%), 45%, 17.2%, 10.3%

Two (32.5%), 61.1%, 22.2%, 11.1%

Three (15.7%), 45.5%, 7.7%, 7.7%

Four-Plus (10.9%), 16.7%, 16.7%, 16.7%

* Percentage of possessions that ended in free throws

Of course, better ball movement wasn’t the only reason the Pacers were able to defeat the Heat by 19, taking a 2-to-1 series lead.

- Dwyane Wade was just 2-for-13 from the floor, scoring five points in 37 nondescript minutes. The ESPN crew, Hubie Brown and Mike Tirico, hinted at one point in the third quarter that Wade wasn’t himself although Miami hadn’t released any information of an injury or illness. In the series, he is just 18-for-58. After attempting 24 free throws in Games 1 and 2, Wade was 1-for-2 in Game 3.

- Roy Hibbert, for perhaps the first time this postseason, looked like a dominant big man every minute he was out on the floor. He finished with 19 points, 18 rebounds and five blocked shots. His presence altered a number of other short jumpers and helped the Pacers win the game with a +16 rebounding differential.

- In Games 1 and 2, Vogel was content to allow LeBron James and Wade to score their points. Instead, they worked on limiting Miami’s role players and they were successful in doing so. At Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Mario Chalmers exploded for 25 points (six rebounds and five assists) on 10-for-15 shooting and Mike Miller hit a pair of threes, but Wade’s low output spoiled what could have a pseudo-Big Three performance with Chalmers playing the role of Chris Bosh.