Miami Heat, LeBron Come Up Short 99-92, Series Tied 2-2

Miami Heat, LeBron Come Up Short 99-92, Series Tied 2-2

May 29, 2013

The Miami Heat won't put tickets on sale for a Game 7 until it become necessary. But in these Eastern Conference finals, you can see it coming.

For now, the best-of-seven series is tied 2-2 heading back to AmericanAirlines Arena for Thursday's Game 5, after the Indiana Pacers' 99-92 victory Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Already assured is a return trip to Indianapolis for a Saturday Game 6, much to the delight of a gold-clad crowd who spent the night chanting, "Beat the Flop-pers!" and several other less catchy phrases.

With Dwyane Wade making little noise with his game early and the officiating crew making plenty with their whistles, the Heat lacked enough on a night when the Pacers got plenty from everyone in their starting lineup but All-Star forward Paul George. 

While George dealt with the type of foul trouble that also limited Heat center Chris Bosh, the Pacers were able to hand the Heat their first road loss in over two months behind 23 points from center Roy Hibbert, 20 from guard Lance Stephenson, 19 from guard George Hill and 14 from forward David West, who, like Hibbert, closed with a double-double.

The Heat got 24 points from LeBron James, who fouled out with 56 seconds to play, 20 from foul-plagued point guard Mario Chalmers, with Wade coming around with 16.

The Heat entered having won 23 of their previous 24 road games, but with Tuesday's loss fell to 1-3 in Indiana this season, when counting their two regular-season blowout losses at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Ultimately, the Heat might be facing their second consecutive seven-game Eastern Conference finals, needing the maximum length to eliminate the Boston Celtics last season.

A Game 7, if necessary, would be Monday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, where the teams split the first two games of the series.

Indiana moved to an 81-72 lead early in the fourth quarter before Wade regained his legs and helped the Heat close within 83-80 on a driving layup with 6:49 to play. James then drained a 3-pointer to complete the comeback and tie it 83-83.

From there a James steal led to a Wade fastbreak that was ruled a goal-tend and a foul, with Wade making the free throw on the unusual 3-point play to put the Heat up 86-83.

But back came George with a 3-point play of his own for an 86-86 tied.

And back came Ray Allen with a 3-pointer at the shot-block buzzer to put the Heat up 89-86.

Eventually, a Stephenson jumper tied it 89-89 with 3:28 to play.

West then scored inside on a putback attempt for a 91-89 Pacers lead.

That was followed by a devastating pair of Pacers offensive rebounds, the second leading to a Hibbert 3-point play and a 94-89 Pacers lead, with James called for his fifth foul on the play.

But back came James with a 3-pointer with 80 seconds left to trim the Pacers' lead to 94-92.

Stephenson, working against the defense of Allen, followed with a driving layup for a 96-92 Indiana lead, with James called for an offensive foul on the other end, fouling out with 56 seconds to play, effectively ending it.

With a Bosh 3-pointer, the Heat tied it 54-54 early in the third quarter, the shot lifting him to 12 of 25 on 3-pointers this postseason.

The Heat then pushed to a 58-54 edge for their largest lead to that stage. Chalmers then dropped a floater to cap a 9-0 run and make it 60-54, leading to a Pacers timeout.

The foul-filled game then took another foul-filled turn when Chalmers was called for his third and fourth fouls in rapid succession, forced to the bench with 6:39 to play in the third period.

All the while, with James and Bosh missing 3-pointers, the Pacers were able to push to a 64-60 lead with a 10-0 run of their own.

Amid that run, Bosh was called for his fourth foul, with 5:05 to play in the third. He went to the bench and then immediately to the locker room after apparently twisting his right ankle, returning to the bench later in the period.

There then was a wild sequence with just over two minutes to play in the third, first when James had a chase-down block of a Hill layup attempt at the rim and then when George was called for his fourth on the rebound attempt, with a technical foul following.

Through it all, with a late offensive foul on James leading to a Stephenson buzzer-beating 3-pointer, the Pacers took a 77-70 lead into the fourth quarter.

Even with the Pacers jumping out to an 11-0 lead and then pushing ahead by nine in the second period, the Heat were able to close within 48-47 at halftime, despite three first-half fouls apiece for Bosh and backup center Chris Andersen.

The Pacers, who got a strong start from Hibbert, also had foul issues early, with George limited to 14 first-half minutes due to three early fouls of his own.

Chalmers kept the Heat afloat with 10 first-half points, taking an aggressive approach at the rim to support James, who had 11 first-half points but did it on 3-of-10 shooting.

At the outset, it was not exactly the start the Heat were looking for, with Indiana bursting to their 11-0 lead, opening 4 of 4 from the field to the Heat 0 for 4.

The Heat opened with a turnover on their first possession, an errant Wade pass, after committing only one in the first half of their Game 3 victory. The Heat had only two more, though, the balance of the first half.

It got even more tenuous when Wade was called for his second foul with 8:09 to play in the opening period, with coach Erik Spoelstra electing to keep him in the game until a timeout with 4:36 remaining in the opening period.

From down 11-0, the Heat moved ahead 17-16 on a Udonis Haslem dunk. That proved to be the Heat's only lead of the first half.

Later in the opening period, James was called for a technical foul, with Bosh then called for his second foul with 2:11 to play in the quarter, with George called for his second foul five seconds later.

James now has three technicals in these playoffs, the most he has had in a single postseason.

Through it all, in an opening period loaded with fouls and whistles, the Heat went into the second period down 26-22, that opening turnover their only turnover of the first quarter.

Source: (c)2013 Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Distributed by MCT Information Services