 Posted: Wed 2:33, 27 Nov 2013 Post subject: series tied 2-2 |
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| Wild game ends with too much Hibbert for Heat to stop, series tied 2-2
This was a wild ride.From a fast 11-0 start by a Pacers team playing with desperation,[url=http://www.tjmobiles.com]Gucci Pas Cher[/url], to LeBron James having another monster game including an insane block of George Hill at the rim. From Lance Stephenson providing an offensive spark and hitting ridiculous threes, to some ridiculous calls from the referees.But with the game tied 89-89 and 3:28 left, the Pacers relied on the one thing Miami has not been able to consistently stop — Roy Hibbert. First he had a putback of a Paul George miss. Next possession Hibbert missed a righty hook over Chris Bosh but grabbed his own offensive board, went back up and drew the and-1 foul. Next Pacers possession Stephenson missed but Hibbert was there for another tip in. Seven straight Pacers points by the 7’2” big man that has towered over the Pacers wins.Indiana won 99-92, tying the series up at 2-2. This is now a best of three where each team has won on the other’s home court. Game 5 is Thursday night back in Miami.Indiana did a much better job on LeBron James in this game, throwing a number of different looks at him and not letting him easily establish himself on the low block (where he hurt them so much in Game 3). LeBron could never get comfortable and shot just 8-of-18, with a game-high 24 points.But when the defense focuses on him other Heat players need to step up, and on Tuesday night that was spotty. Dwyane Wade had 16 point on 15 shots and looked grounded by his knee. Chris Bosh was 1-of-6. Ray Allen was 4-of-13. The only guy who really stepped up at all was Mario Chalmers who had 20 points on 14 shots.Miami shot 39 percent for the game. That is not going to get it done.Especially since they can’t seem to stop the Pacers’ offense, which is really the story of this series.This video is no longer available. Click here to watch more NBC Sports videos!Indiana was the 19th best offense in the NBA averaging just 101.6 points per 100 possessions this season, but Tuesday night they had an offensive rating of 120. For the series now they are up to 111.3 points per 100 possessions. That would have been the best in the league during the regular season (besting the Heat’s 110.3). Indiana has stepped up their offense, found ways to score on the Heat, and that is by far the biggest surprise of this series.While Indiana raced out to that early 11-0 lead the Heat had come back and taken a small lead by the middle of the quarter. For the rest of the game things were pretty close, although it often felt like the Pacers were playing better and just couldn’t pull away. It was a one-point game at halftime, 49-48, despite the fact the Pacers shot 50 percent to Heat’s 39.5 percent. Miami was hanging around but not knocking down the shots they needed (they were 1-14 in first half from midrange).Indiana also withstood the Heat charges. Miami went on a 9-0 run early in the third quarter, hitting 5-of-7 shots to open the third. But Indiana answered back with 10-0 run of their own with Paul George dishing and David West knocking down midrange shots.Hibbert finished with 23 points and 12 boards but he got the kind of help from his teammates LeBron did not — 20 from Stephenson, 19 from George Hill and a solid 14 from David West.The crucial question for Game 5 will be one we didn’t expect to ask — can the Heat stop the Pacers? |
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