LeBron James powers Miami Heat past Indiana Pacers to take 3-2 series lead
Miami Heat's LeBron James celebrates after shooting a three pointer over Pacers' George Hill in the third quarter of the Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers NBA Eastern Conference Finals, game 5 at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami on Thursday, May 30, 2013.
BY JOSEPH GOODMAN
JGOODMAN@MIAMIHERALD.COM
It’s not a series until the Bird’s brain goes cuckoo and Udonis Haslem insults three generations of David West’s family tree.
All that happened Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena, and it made for a colorful evening, but it all was secondary to LeBron James’ mastery in the final six minutes of the third quarter.
James gave new meaning to the phrase “hero ball,” shooting Miami out of danger in this best-of-7 series with a sequence of jump shots that put the Heat ahead for good in a 90-79 victory against the Pacers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Heat leads the series 3-2 and can close out Indiana with a victory at Indianapolis’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday night.
In a game low on offense, James scored nine points in the final six minutes of the third period to distance the Heat from Indiana in its most important game of the postseason. James finished with 30 points, scoring 16 in the third quarter, to go along with eight rebounds and six assists. While his offense in the third quarter will be remembered, James’ defense was just as instrumental in the Heat turning a close game into a blowout and firmly grabbing an advantage in the series.
Paul George led the Pacers with 27 points, including 15 in the first half, but couldn’t keep pace with James and the Heat. George was 11 of 19 from the field and 5 of 8 from the three-point range. The Heat shot 50.7 percent from the field, 7 of 18 from three-point range and closed the rebounding margin to 33-32. On Tuesday in Game 4, the Pacers outrebounded the Heat by 19.
The Heat took its first lead (47-46) since the beginning of the game when Haslem slammed down a dunk with 9:37 left in the period. From there, the series went supernova and burned white hot deep into the fourth quarter.
Hibbert blocked Chris Bosh’s dunk attempt with 7:01 left in the third quarter on a play that was reminiscent of Hibbert’s iconic block against Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Then, during the next few minutes, the series would be defined by the intensity of Haslem and James and, oh yeah, some pretty timely jump shots.
On the possession following Haslem’s dunk, Haslem, Mario Chalmers and David West each received technical fouls for their creative interpretations of the English language. Initially, Chalmers and West got into it under the basket. Haslem then flew in from the periphery to push West off of his teammate and the tinderbox ignited.
Referees had to pull Haslem away as he lobbed insults and pointed fingers in West’s general direction.
The altercation seemed to embolden James, who started jacking up shots after the near-fight like he was at an arcade Pop-A-Shot. Good thing for James and the Heat the shots went down.
Haslem was locked in as well. He scored 10 points in the third quarter and finished the game 8 of 9 from the field for 16 points. Dwyane Wade was 3 of 8 overall for 10 points. Bosh, who favored his injured ankle from the game’s tipoff, had seven points for the second game in a row. He also contributed five rebounds. His counterpart, Hibbert, had 22 points and six rebounds. He was 8 of 14 from the field and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.
James’ 16 points in the third period were a Heat postseason high for points in a quarter.
An isolation, spot-up three-pointer by James gave the Heat a 61-55 lead with 3:16 left in the third period. It was an ill-advised shot, but James was the only player making a difference at that point and the Heat needed a spark. It also gave Miami its largest lead.
After James’ first three-pointer of the quarter, Haslem scored six points to put the Heat ahead 67-55. James’ three-pointer with 16.1 seconds left in the period gave Miami a 70-57 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Earlier, it took Chris Andersen losing his mind for the Heat to show any sign of life, but even after Andersen nearly shoved Tyler Hansbrough into Biscayne Bay the Heat still struggled offensively. Meanwhile, the Pacers’ starters scored 39 of their team’s 44 points in the first half. Indiana led the Heat 44-40 at the break.
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