• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

James, Bosh help Heat down Pacers in Game 4

May 27, 2014 - 5:31 AM Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - LeBron James didn't show any sign of weakness in Game 4.

Neither did Chris Bosh.

James scored 14 of his 32 points in the third quarter, while Bosh added 25 and the Miami Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers, 102-90, to take a 3-1 stranglehold of the Eastern Conference finals.

Pacers guard Lance Stephenson stated that James using trash talk against him in Miami's Game 3 victory was a "sign of weakness".

"I'm doing something right to get underneath his skin," Stephenson said after Indiana's practice on Sunday.

His comments might've fueled James, although the four-time MVP shrugged off Stephenson's comments postgame.

"I was motivated enough getting back to the finals," James said.

James did, however, state that he "got a kick" out of Stephenson's remarks.

James relentlessly attacked the rim throughout and Bosh helped the Heat finally get off to a fast start in this set. Miami had trailed by double figures in the first quarter in two of the first three games, but it flipped the script on Monday.

Bosh, who had netted just nine points in each of the first three tilts and had been just 2-of-12 from beyond the arc in the series, put in Miami's first eight points. He knocked down a pair of 3-pointers during his personal 8-0 run to begin the game and the Heat never looked back in the wire-to-wire victory.

Bosh tallied his 10th point just 5:13 into the contest.

"He impacts the game in so many ways that the average eye doesn't see," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of Bosh.

Dwyane Wade had 15 points and James also supplied 10 rebounds and five assists for the Heat, who moved to 7-0 at home during the postseason.

Miami can book its fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals with a win in Indianapolis in Game 5 on Wednesday.

Paul George supplied 23 points and seven rebounds and David West added 20 points and 12 boards for Indiana. Stephenson finished with nine points and didn't record his first field goal until the 5:31 mark of the fourth.

"I guess he stepped up and got the win," Stephenson said of James. "I can take the heat."

Roy Hibbert was held scoreless in 22 minutes in defeat.

The Heat led by five at the break, but pulled away in the third.

They scored the first seven points of the stanza, with James hitting a 3- pointer during the spurt before capping it with a fastbreak dunk for a 56-44 Heat advantage.

James later swished a desperation 3-pointer from the right wing with the shot clock running down to extend the margin to 69-53. Miami upped the lead to as many as 19 in the frame before settling for an 80-64 cushion going into the fourth.

A Udonis Haslem layup gave Miami its largest lead at 94-71 with 7:41 left, but Indiana countered with a 13-1 run. George had nine points during the surge, which Stephenson concluded with a pair of free throws to whittle the deficit to 95-84 with 4:27 to play.

Stephenson later drove in for a bucket to cut the gap to 99-90 with 1:29 to go, but James' three-point play at the other end kept Indiana at bay for good.

Earlier, Miami led 27-19 after a quarter of play and a George triple in the waning moments of the second got Indiana within 49-44 heading into the locker room.

Bosh had 17 points in the first half on 7-of-11 efficiency.

Game Notes

It was James' 74th playoff game with at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists, passing Michael Jordan for the most in NBA history ... Teams are 214-8 in the history of the NBA postseason when leading 3-1 in a series ... Miami center Chris Andersen missed the game due to a left thigh contusion ... Miami tallied 20 points off 14 Indiana turnovers ... Miami was 30-of-34 (88.2 percent) from the foul line ... Indiana shot 49.3 percent (35-of-71) from the floor.