Pacers vs. Heat, NBA Playoffs 2013:Indiana ties up series with Game 4 victory

However, they’ll need to step up in a different way Saturday. Without Andersen, the Heat no longer have their solidified rotation with cookie-cutter job descriptions. Instead, Game 6 will likely see Miami trying a number of different looks, with guys possibly playing roles they haven’t filled in weeks.

The player most likely to see an increased slice of action Saturday is Haslem. Coming off a great performance in Game 5, where he recorded 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting as Miami found itself in need of a boost, it’s easy to hope for a similar effort this time around.

The Pacers have been a great home team all season and look to exploit their size advantage while feeding off of the friendly gold-and-loud crowd. The Pacers are 7-1 at the Fieldhouse during the playoffs, with their only loss coming in Game 3 to the Heat.

Here are three questions that will help determine what happens in Game 5:

James’ emotion was evident again after hitting a three during a 16-point third quarter. TNT cut off James juuuust in time.

LeBron James: also “not nice”.

Miami has been trying to use the 6’8, 225-pound Battier to defend the much bigger Indiana big men in this series, with very mixed results. He doesn’t have the size to play behind them, so he’s had to use every trick in the book to try to slow them down.

For the Pacers, some of those tricks cross the line, with Hibbert outright calling Battier “dirty.” With so much on the line on Thursday, though, nothing they say will have much of an effect on how Battier plays the game.

In Game 4, the Pacers reclaimed their identity as a defensive-minded team. They held the defending champs to just 39 percent from the field and 35 percent from the three-point line.

But don’t think for a second that it hurt the Heat’s confidence going into an all-important Game 5.

“I believe I was straight up-and-down on Paul George’s drive -- the and-one,” James said of the play that put him just one whistle away from fouling out.

It’s unclear what the NBA plans to do as the fallout of Game 4 is combed through, but the initiation of an official review by the league indicates some action may be taken. With Game 5 scheduled for Thursday night, a decision from officials should come relatively soon.

Several minutes later, Hibbert made two huge plays that put the Pacers ahead for good. On the first, Hibbert rebounded an errant shot by George and scored, getting a little help from Stephenson:

James answered with a monster three, and it looked like he might will the Heat to victory:

Here’s something far more stunning than the Pacers tying the Eastern Conference Finals at two on Tuesday: Indiana is doing it with offense. The Pacers boasted the league’s No. 1 defense in the regular season, but it’s not doing a whole lot to slow the Heat’s onslaught. Miami scored 1.15 points per possession in Game 4; the No. 1 offense in the league averaged 1.12 this season.

But the Pacers have managed to knot the series in spite of this because their offense is also not living up to its ranking. In this case, that’s a good thing: Indiana was No. 20 in offense this season. In the regular season, the Pacers averaged 1.04 points per possession; in the East finals, Indiana has scored 394 points in 334 possessions, or 1.17 points per possession. (Possession data is from Basketball-Reference.)

Things started poorly for Bosh almost right away, as he picked up two fouls in the first quarter. He was then whistled for his third a few minutes after returning in the second quarter, forcing him to the bench for the rest of the half.

Bosh picked up his fourth foul midway through the third quarter when he collided with Hibbert in the paint. The collision forced Bosh to the locker room with an ankle injury, and although he returned to the game, he remained ineffective and was no match for Hibbert down the stretch.

“I think our identity, our style of play is something I’ve tried to implement,” Vogel said. “They’ve embraced it and run with it. ... They love that style of play, and it’s just grown and grown since then. It’s manifested itself in mental toughness as well, not just physical toughness, as we saw in the resolve tonight.”

• Ziller: Will Memphis leap off the bluff?

Under the most extreme pressure, they continued to press their advantage down low and on the boards. To put it another way: this was the night the Pacers grew up. It’s one thing to play up to your potential and beat lesser or evenly matched teams in the lower rounds. It’s quite another to look the champs in the eye on this stage and not blink.

It’s worth pointing out that despite all that -- plus the lack of a vintage LeBron game -- the Heat still had a chance to steal a game on the road. Anyone who thinks they’re in big trouble hasn’t been paying enough attention.

James showed why he’s the reigning MVP, though, as he answered right back with a three-pointer of his own to cut it to two before Hibbert again scored on a tip that extended it to four with under one minute remaining.

The Pacers had a string of empty possessions down the stretch, and the Heat took advantage of their fourth-quarter mistakes with easy transition baskets.

Chris Bosh went down in the third quarter with an apparent leg injury. After colliding with

Miami looked like the more desperate team late in the half as they stifled Indiana and held them to 22 points in the second quarter.

Miami was outrebounded by a margin of 21-17, which was offset by seven Pacers turnovers against just three by the Heat.

After a 97-93 victory in Game 2 that gave them home-court advantage in the series, thePacers were riding high in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, their positive momentum was ground to a halt in Game 3, when the Heat blew them off the court in a 114-96 beating.

For more on this series, check out: Heat blog Hot Hot Hoops Pacers blog Indy Cornrows

The Pacers’ defense collapses but it’s too late.

***

The Miami Heat reassumed juggernaut series in Game 3, thoroughly throttling the Indiana Pacers 114-96 after two remarkably even games. Now, the Pacers have a shot to notch the series at two at home -- but if they lose, they’ll find themselves just one game from elimination.

And the Heat’s various role players -- one of the best shooters in league history in Ray Allen, a two-time NBA champion with the Heat in Udonis Haslem, a universally lauded three-defense specialist in Shane Battier, a generally productive point guard in Mario Chalmers -- were cold and ineffective. The Heat won once in overtime and lost in the final minute of the second game because LeBron James is brilliant, but there were several slackers on the roster.

James led a balanced Heat attack, scoring 22 points on 8-17 shooting. Six of those eight made baskets came from within six feet. Game 4 is Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on TNT.

• Heat take 2-1 lead over Pacers

Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that Chalmers’ left shoulder was bandaged last night, but was still causing him problems.

Richardson added that Chalmers will receive treatment on the injury at least through the rest of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat point guard initially injured the shoulder during Miami’s Game 1 victory and missed most of the second half.

Andersen had nine points and nine rebounds while extending his consecutive-field-goals-made streak to 16. He has made all 13 shots that he has taken this series, with all 13 of those makes coming in the restricted area. Andersen’s recent performance has been nothing short of remarkable, especially for a guy who was sitting at home without a team earlier in the season.

Nearly as impressive as Birdman’s recent run was the play of Haslem. The veteran big man had just three points in the first two games of the series, but he came out and knocked down four early shots to help the Heat get off to a fast start.

George managed only 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting in Game 3 and he seemed especially tentative on offense at the outset of the game. The 23-year-old had just four points on 1-of-3 shooting in the first half as Indiana fell behind by double digits. George did up eight assists in the game, but the Pacers will need more scoring from him if they hope to even the series once again.

George did start to wake up a bit in the second half, looking for his shot more and getting to the foul line. He had nine points in the third quarter and got to the free throw line six times, but he missed three of the freebies. He still wound up only 2-of-7 from the field in the second half.

Miami’s offense was on point almost all night long, shooting 54.5 percent from the field. The Heat shot 62.8 percent in the first half, and the 70 points in the opening half were a franchise playoff record. Miami dominated the paint, scoring 52 points in the paint to just 36 for Indiana.

Both teams started the game on fire, with the Heat shooting 9-of-11 and the Pacers going 7-of-9 before the first timeout. Bosh and Hill both knocked down a pair of threes, while West and Hibbert did damage in the paint. Miami also got some early contributions from Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers, a welcome sight after a poor performance from the Heat supporting cast in Game 2.

Both teams burst out of the gates quick, as the Heat led 20-19 midway through the first quarter. The scoring only slowed somewhat the rest of the quarter, with Miami holding a 34-30 lead after one.

The Heat pushed their lead out to 10 at the outset of the second quarter, and they were able to keep a comfortable lead throughout the rest of the half.

On Saturday the league said it would review the incident, but ultimately decided against suspending Wade, according to Ken Berger of CBS Sports. Wade will be assessed with a flagrant-one for the play, however.

The play occurred in the fourth quarter while Wade sprinted back in transition following a turnover. The Heat star crossed paths with Stephenson at mid-court and left his feet to get around Stephenson, but instead initiated contact and gave a blow to the guard’s head.

During the fourth quarter of Friday’s 97-93 Indiana win, Wade committed a turnover and quickly began transitioning back on defense. While sprinting back, he attempted to avoid Stephenson by jumping past him, but caught the Pacers guard with a left elbow to the head.

After the play, Stephenson fell to the floor and continued to look rattled after getting up. Still, he never left the game.