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Pacers remain hot at home, top Heat

Feb 2, 2013 - 4:47 AM Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - David West racked up 30 points behind a near-perfect shooting display, and the Indiana Pacers kept up their recent home dominance with an impressive 102-89 triumph over the defending world champion Miami Heat at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

West went 12-of-15 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line while also pulling down a game-high seven rebounds. Four other Pacers scored in double figures and Indiana shot 55.7 percent as a team en route to its 13th consecutive win at home.

Paul George and Lance Stephenson each contributed 15 points to the victory, with George Hill adding 12 for Indiana.

"When we're at home we expect to play well," George said. "We expect to be dialed in. We expect to get the job done when we're at home. It's on the road where we have to work at and become a consistent team."

The Heat were coming off a 105-85 road rout of Brooklyn on Wednesday, but weren't nearly as sharp in this one and dropped to 1-2 on their current four- game trip.

Miami shot just 47.1 percent overall against the league's top-ranked team in field goal percentage defense, and committed 11 turnovers that the Pacers converted into 16 points.

LeBron James came through with 28 points and six rebounds for Miami, while Dwyane Wade finished with 17 points and Chris Bosh had 13 in the setback.

Down 23-20 with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Pacers took control via a 13-0 run and never trailed thereafter.

Tyler Hansbrough sparked the surge by dropping in seven points, and his short jumper less than two minutes into the second quarter put Indiana ahead by double digits at 33-23.

A 9-2 Miami spurt capped by James' three-point play brought the visitors within 40-39 with five minutes left in the half, but a West basket followed by a Stephenson triple gave the Pacers some breathing room. Indiana would go into the break owning a 53-45 lead behind 16 points from West and a 54.3 percent field goal percentage as a team.

The Pacers came out strong to begin the third quarter as well, netting the period's first six points to extend the differential to 14 with under three minutes elapsed in the frame. Indiana owned a cushion of as many as 19 points during the stanza and entered the fourth quarter holding a comfortable 80-65 advantage.

"I think we tried to stop their running with a lot of jump shots," Heat forward Shane Battier said. "The best way to beat that team is to attack the basket."

Miami didn't seriously threaten in the final session either, with the Heat never getting their deficit under 12 points over the remainder of the tilt.

Game Notes

James was named the Eastern Conference's Player of the Month for January after averaging 27.0 points, 7.2 assists and 1.9 steals over 12 games. It's the third straight month the reigning NBA MVP has received the honor .... The Pacers have now won three straight regular-season meetings between the teams, including an 87-77 decision in Indianapolis in which the Heat were held to a season low in points ... Heat guard Ray Allen was held scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting in 27 minutes of action ... Miami lost for only the second time in 10 matchups with the Pacers since 2010-11 in which James scores 25 or more points ... Indiana's current home win streak is its longest since a 14-game run in 2002-03.