Final
James, Wade help Heat even series against Pacers
May 20, 2012 - 11:25 PM Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - LeBron James didn't want to admit the Heat were desperate, even if they were."That's a strong word," he said.
Facing the prospect of a third straight loss and all the hurlyburly that would come with it, the Heat were picked up by their two remaining stars and carried across the finish line for a much-needed win.
Instead of going home in a two-game hole, they'll head back to Miami with some mojo.
James and Dwyane Wade scored 38 straight points in the middle of Game 4 on Sunday afternoon and the Heat battled for a 101-93 victory over the Indiana Pacers to even their Eastern Conference semifinal.
James had 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists while Wade added 30 points, nine boards and six helpers -- their best performance since Chris Bosh went down in Game 1.
"They've been through quite a few battles," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the two stars. "We went through quite a bit last year. All the series we went through were highly-competitive, so they understand with one of our main components out that they have to step up."
James and Wade scored 48-of-50 points for the Heat between the latter stages of the second quarter and early in the fourth. Udonis Haslem picked up some of the slack down the stretch, scoring eight of his 14 points in the final quarter.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Miami.
Danny Granger led the Pacers with 20 points, Darren Collinson had 16 off the bench, Paul George scored 13 and Roy Hibbert chipped in 10 with nine rebounds.
Hibbert and David West, who scored eight, both played in foul trouble.
The third-seeded Pacers had taken a 2-1 lead in the series after two wins in a row, including Thursday night's 94-75 rout. And they were on a roll early in this one.
The Heat, seeded second and the clear favorites to come out of the East with Chicago gone, trailed by double digits in the first and second quarter before James and Wade went off.
"We're a complete team. We've handled runs like that all year," said Indiana coach Frank Vogel. "We tried to handle it, but we didn't handle it enough."
After scoring the last 10 points of the second quarter, James and Wade had the first 28 of the third for Miami. Wade knocked down a 3 for a 64-63 edge in the midst of a 17-2 run that turned a 10-point deficit into a five-point lead.
The first points not scored by the two players were Haslem's free throws for a 76-66 lead -- the end of an extended 25-5 Miami run. The Pacers pulled within 76-70 going into the fourth.
James and Wade led Miami to a 30-16 third quarter -- this after the Heat were outscored by a combined 54-26 in the same period in Games 2 and 3.
"You get the ball out of one of those guys' hands," said Vogel, "and it finds its way to the other guy."
James rattled the rim on a put-back dunk in the fourth quarter and the Heat built a nine-point lead inside five minutes. Granger buried a 3 to cut the deficit to five with 1:35 remaining, but Indiana never got closer.
While James' stats had a bigger impact on the game, it was the re-emergence of Wade that seemed to flip a switch in Miami. He was coming off a dreadful Game 3 in which he scored just five points -- all in the second half -- on 2-of-13 shooting.
"I just wanted to come out today and affect the game somehow," Wade said Sunday. "Obviously I knew I was struggling offensively but I didn't want that to affect my whole game."
The Pacers opened the game on a 9-0 run as it took Miami nearly 4 1/2 minutes to get its first points on a James dunk.
Mario Chalmers hit back-to-back 3s for the Heat, but Indiana had a 10-point lead after a Granger 3 and two Tyler Hansbrough free throws after that.
The Pacers took a 25-18 lead into the second quarter, but Miami went ahead for the first time on Chalmers' reverse layup to make it 30-29 at the end of an 8-0 run.
Indiana replied with a 20-8 burst for an 11-point lead and went to the locker room ahead 54-46 despite James' 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
In a moment of chippiness before the half, Wade and Granger came face-to-face after Wade was wrapped up under the basket by Hibbert on a hard foul. Wade shoved Hibbert's hand away even as it looked like the Pacers center was trying to hold him up, and Granger seemed to take umbrage.
"This is the epitome of a 2-3 matchup," said Spoelstra. "It's a long series and right now it's just survival."
Game Notes
The Heat outscored the Pacers 50-32 in the paint and out-rebounded Indiana 47-38...Both teams scored 12 points off the other team's 15 turnovers.
- MIAMI: 101
INDIANA: 93
Final
May 20 6:09 PM - 170
rootsRUWTbot Added 25 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Heat 88, Pacers 83 4th - 5:33May 20 5:50 PM - 145
rootsRUWTbot Took away 19 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Heat 88, Pacers 81 4th - 5:56May 20 5:49 PM - 164
rootsRUWTbot Added 9 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Heat 86, Pacers 81 4th - 7:15May 20 5:46 PM - 155
rootsRUWTbot Added 13 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Heat 86, Pacers 81 4th - 7:50May 20 5:45 PM - 142
rootsRUWTbot Added 10 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Heat 82, Pacers 79 4th - 9:15May 20 5:44 PM - 132
rootsRUWTbot Took away 10 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Heat 82, Pacers 79 4th - 9:48May 20 5:38 PM - 142
rootsRUWTbot Added 12 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Heat 80, Pacers 78 4th - 9:58May 20 5:38 PM - 130
rootsRUWTbot Added 18 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Heat 78, Pacers 74 4th - 10:39May 20 5:35 PM - 112
rootsRUWTbot Took away 14 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Heat 78, Pacers 72 4th - 10:58May 20 5:35 PM - 126
rootsRUWTbot Added 9 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Heat 76, Pacers 72 4th - 11:40May 20 5:34 PM - MIAMI: 76
INDIANA: 70
End of 3rd
May 20 5:30 PM - 117
rootsRUWTbot Added 8 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Heat 76, Pacers 70 End of 3rdMay 20 5:30 PM - 91
roots - MIAMI: 46
INDIANA: 54
Halftime
May 20 4:40 PM - MIAMI: 18
INDIANA: 25
End of 1st
May 20 4:01 PM - MIAMI: 0
INDIANA: 0
1st Quarter - 12:00
May 20 3:37 PM
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