Larry Bird to Leave Pacers

David Morway resigned Tuesday as general manager of the Indiana Pacers amid reports that Larry Bird is on the way out, too.

Morway was hired by the Pacers in 1999 and had been GM since 2008. The Indianapolis Star reported Tuesday that Bird is expected to leave the Pacers, citing an unidentified person with direct knowledge of the situation.

Last month, Bird told The Associated Press, he'd stay put as the Pacers team president for a few more years -- if that's what team owner Herb Simon wants.

The New York Daily News, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday that Donnie Walsh, 71, will rejoin the Pacers and lead the team's effort to sign free agents. Walsh, the longtime GM and CEO of the Pacers, has been working as a consultant with the Knicks after serving as New York's president and general manager from 2008 to '11.

"I'd do it today if Herbie was here," Bird said last month, drawing laughter. "We've got kids working out, we've got six free agents, we've got a lot going on right now. Obviously, I want to sit down with Herb as quickly as possible. I don't like this (questions) at all. I'd like a three-year deal, but we have a handshake agreement. It's hard coming in here and not having the answers."

The Pacers and Simon declined comment.

"I think change is great. I really do. New ideas, new creativity, new vision and new energy -- I think all of that is important for a franchise," Morway said. "However Mr. Simon decides to do this, I think is going to be good for the franchise. I'm sure he'll make a good decision because he's a terrific owner."

The 55-year-old Bird was Pacers coach from 1997-2000, taking the team to its only NBA Finals appearance that last year, before returning to the front office in 2003. He took full control of basketball decisions after the 2007-08 season, when Donnie Walsh left to become the New York Knicks' president.

This year, Bird was the NBA Executive of the Year after building a tough, young team that lost to eventual champion Miami in six games. He is the only person in league history to win that award, the MVP award and Coach of the Year.

The former Indiana State star won three MVP awards and three NBA titles during his Hall of Fame career with Boston.

Bird has spent the last four years building the team into an Eastern Conference contender and said a month ago that he was willing to stay. He indicated then that he had not yet met with Simon to discuss his future.

His status with the team had been the subject of speculation for months. He had stayed with the Pacers on a season-by-season basis, discussing whether to return with Simon each offseason.

Morway's departure comes literally on the eve of the NBA draft, where Indiana was scheduled to pick No. 26 overall on Thursday night.

"I'm happy," he said. "This is something I spent several months talking to my wife and my kids and Mr. Simon about and Larry. We had a lot of success this year, but at the same time, there was a lot of personal sacrifice that came with it the past few years."

The Pacers, well under the salary cap, are expected to be a significant player in free agency.

Will Larry Vogel Stay the Pace

Larry Bird loves his job and loves his team and in a perfect world, he'd stay put as the Pacers team president for a few more years - if that's what team owner Herb Simon wants.

After two months of speculation that Bird would cede control of Indiana's day-to-day operations, Bird told reporters Wednesday he wishes he already had a deal in place.

"I'd do it today if Herbie was here," Bird said, drawing laughter. "We've got kids working out, we've got six free agents, we've got a lot going on right now. Obviously, I want to sit down with Herb as quickly as possible. I don't like this (questions) at all. I'd like a three-year deal, but we have a handshake agreement. It's hard coming in here and not having the answers."

Simon did not immediately respond to an interview request from The Associated Press.

Though Bird is clearly frustrated with the ongoing questions about his future, it hasn't deterred him from doing his job.

He spoke at length about the need to keep his core group together, including restricted free agents Roy Hibbert and George Hill, and has already begun the prep work for the June 28 draft. He said he'd even consider bringing in a free agent if the Pacers could work it under the cap and not risk this team's promising future.

The question, of course, is whether Bird will be around to make those decisions.

"I love my job. There's only 30 of them and we've gone through some tough times. If you remember, we had to change the culture around here," Bird said. "We've got good kids in here that want to be here, that are dedicated to this city. I wouldn't want to sign a four- or five-year deal because I'm getting older. But I have to find out where we want to go."

What would it take to keep him around?

A face-to-face meeting with Simon, for starters.

Bird said he has spoken with the owner a "few times" on the phone but has not yet met with him since the season ended last week with a playoff series loss to Miami. When they do get together, Bird said he needs answers about what direction Simon wants to take the team, whether he approves of the front office's performance, or whether Simon believes the rebuilding process should be further along.

Another key factor may be getting a commitment from Simon to keep the small-market Pacers competitive in a league where some teams are willing to fork out tens of millions of dollars for the top stars.

Bird is willing to work within the financial constraints, though it would force him to build an even stronger bench.

"I'd go after anybody, but I understand his (Simon's) point of view," Bird said. "If you go after someone, you're going to pay for them."

Bird has built this team the old-fashioned way -- by drafting players (Paul George and Tyler Hansbrough) and developing them through the team structure, making shrewd decisions to trade for others (Hill and Darren Collison) and finding affordable free agents (David West).

Two weeks ago, Bird was rewarded by adding the final piece to an unprecedented trifecta, being voted the NBA's Executive of the Year. He's the first to win that award, an MVP award and an NBA championship. Bird won three MVPs and three NBA titles during his Hall of Fame career with Boston and also was Indiana's head coach for its only NBA Finals appearance in 2000.

He's been just as successful calling the Pacers' shots since taking over from Donnie Walsh in 2008.

What Bird inherited was a reeling franchise with a tarnished image thanks to a series of off-court problems. In just four years, Bird turned the Pacers from a troubled franchise that couldn't make the playoffs into one of the league's deepest, toughest teams.

Indiana led the series against the Heat 2-1 before dropping three straight and ending its deepest postseason run in seven years.

Coach Frank Vogel credits Bird for the decisions that made it all possible.

"I think as the contracts come up, you've got to take it case by case and what Larry has done here is built with a good salary cap," Vogel said Tuesday. "We don't have any bad contracts and as long as you have that, you have a good chance to sustain it."

Some think Bird may stick around in a different capacity, but Bird flatly ruled out being a consultant. Instead, Bird's preference seems to be sticking around to finish the job.

"I love this team. There is no question that this is one of the best locker rooms we've had and it's been a breath of fresh air," Bird said. "We've got to continue to get better. We can't stay pat, we need to make that next step."

Larry Looks on at S-O-F-T Pacers

Wade James Show Heats up Pace

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The Eastern Conference finals no longer looks daunting for Miami after the Heat left the Pacers beat up and banged up.

LeBron James scored 30 points, Dwyane Wade added 28, and the Heat moved a win away from the NBA's final four with a 115-83 victory over the hurting Pacers on Tuesday night, a game where three flagrant fouls added more chapters to an already-physical series and Indiana watched starting forwards Danny Granger and David West leave with injuries.

"This is our challenge right now, to leave it behind us," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "A lot of good things tonight, but we have to focus on the next one."

That would be Game 6 in Indiana on Thursday night. The Heat lead the best-of-seven East semifinals 3-2.

James added 10 rebounds and eight assists. Shane Battier scored 13 points, Mario Chalmers had eight points and 11 rebounds, and Udonis Haslem finished with 10 points for Miami, which never trailed, held a 22-2 edge in fast-break points and shot a franchise playoff-record 61 percent -- best of any team in the playoffs this season.

Paul George scored 11 points for Indiana, with Granger and West adding 10 points apiece. Granger left with a sprained left ankle in the third quarter and departed the arena in a walking boot, while West departed with what the Pacers called a left knee sprain at the end of that period -- something that West thought was born of a cheap shot.

Replays showed Shane Battier boxed out West on the play where he fell backward, but it did not appear any Heat player hit West below the waist.

It was an 11-point game when Granger departed early in the third quarter, and the Heat outscored the Pacers by 21 the rest of the way.

"We learned early in this series, you don't get two wins for a blowout," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said.

A series marked by ugly moments had perhaps its worst with 19.4 seconds remaining when Miami reserve center Dexter Pittman went across the lane to send a forearm into the chin area of Indiana's Lance Stephenson -- who was caught on camera making a choke sign toward James during the Pacers' Game 3 win, drawing the ire of the Miami locker room.

Pittman was caught on camera winking after the foul.

"I don't know if that was retaliation. ... I'm sure the NBA will and do what they have to do," Granger said, adding that Stephenson was getting X-rays for a possible collarbone problem. Physicians were examining Stephenson after the game.

Miami, which had gotten into quick deficits in each of the first four games, was the team that started hot in Game 5, running out to a 19-8 lead on the strength of three 3-pointers from Battier -- who had been 2 for 19 from the field in the first four games of the series. Battier left his mark in many ways, even stopping a 3-on-1 Indiana break to set up a score by Wade at the other end.

But much like the Heat did in Game 4 when Indiana threatened to turn things into an early runaway, the Pacers settled down in a hurry.

The Pacers made Wade see blood early on, a couple of early flagrant fouls reminding everyone that these teams don't seem to like each other much.

Tyler Hansbrough struck first, hitting Wade on a play where the 2006 NBA finals MVP wound up with a cut over his right eye, similar to what Haslem received at Indiana in Game 4. So Haslem retaliated against Hansbrough not long afterward, earning a flagrant-1 foul that left the Pacers saying it should merit a flagrant-2 and automatic ejection.

"Referee's call," Vogel said.

Said Haslem: "I've seen worse in this league in nine years. Nobody wants to give an inch and everybody's going hard."

Even after facing the big deficit, Indiana even had two shots to tie or take the lead late in the first half, the second of those a 3-point try from Granger with 3:03 remaining.

It didn't go down. He did.

Granger landed on James' foot after the shot, spraining his left ankle and leaving the game. The Heat outscored Indiana 8-2 the rest of the half, with James -- who had been guarded by Granger for much of the series -- scoring seven of them.

He opened the burst with a 3-pointer, stole the ball from West and dunked for a seven-point lead with 26 seconds left, then capped the half by coming up with a defensive rebound, passing to Wade, getting the ball back just before the halftime horn sounded and laying it in to send Miami into the break with a 49-40 edge.

"They played at their tempo," West said. "We weren't able to get enough stops. You can't allow a team to shoot 60, 60-plus, whatever from the field."

Granger tried to play in the second half, lasting about 3 minutes before realizing his ankle wasn't going to let him continue. X-rays were negative, which was about the only piece of good news for Indiana.

By then, Indiana was ailing, and Miami was rolling.

James leaned back to catch a slightly wayward pass from Chalmers near the Miami bench, then firing it in one motion to Wade for an easy score as the reigning MVP toppled atop Heat assistant coach Ron Rothstein. Mike Miller even made the crowd roar for defending Leandro Barbosa and forcing a missed 3-pointer late in the quarter -- the highlight there being Miller played for about a minute while missing one sneaker.

When Granger left, it was 56-45. By the end of the quarter, Miami's lead was 76-57, and the Pacers were down another starting forward as well. West left at the end of the period and also headed to the locker room, diagnosed shortly afterward with a sprained left knee.

"I'm fine," West said, adding that he thinks Granger could be ready to play Thursday. Granger wasn't so sure, though added that his foot would "have to fall off" for him to miss the game.

So now the Heat are one win from the East finals, after a series filled with twists and turns.

There was Vogel's accusation before the series started that the Heat were floppers, Chris Bosh's lower abdominal strain that sidelined him midway through Game 1, James and Wade missing key chances late in the Game 2 loss, Stephenson's gesture toward James and the 40-point, 18-rebound, nine-assist effort from James in Game 4.

And now a blowout -- followed by a chance for a Heat close out on Thursday.

"When we defend and we rebound, we're a very good team," James said.

King James Levels Series with Pacers

Heat Cancel Practice

The Miami Heat cancelled practice and their media availability one day after a blowout loss in Game 3 to the Pacers.

The team gave no immediate reason for Friday's decision, which was announced on the Heat's media telephone hotline.

Per NBA rules, teams are not required to meet with the media if they don't hold practice. The Pacers also will not hold practice. Game 4 is Sunday in Indianapolis.

The Heat lost 94-75 Thursday night and trail Indiana 2-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Miami's latest defeat was magnified by a sideline confrontation between star guard Dwyane Wade and coach Erik Spoelstra. The two exchanged words during one of the worst playoff games of Wade's career. He scored just five points on 2-of-13 shooting and after the game refused to discuss what happened with Spoelstra.

Wade has been slowed by lingering injuries -- he is 10-for-35 (28.6 percent) from the field in the last two games, both Miami losses -- and needed treatment in recent days for knee and leg soreness. The Heat also are without power forward Chris Bosh, who has an abdominal strain.

"It's obvious he wasn't himself," LeBron James said after Game 3. "Does he want to play better? Of course. He's one of the best players in the world."

Wade downplayed the potential of having a serious injury, though he did snag his right hand on the net trying to make a block in the first half.

Guard Mario Chalmers fell on his wrist late in the game and had an X-ray, which came back negative. He wore a large ice bag after the game, and the Heat said he'll be re-evaluated Friday.

Miami Suffer Indiana Heat

Roy Hibbert had 19 points and 18 rebounds, George Hill scored 20 and Danny Granger 17 as the Pacers, showing more balance, toughness and togetherness than favoured Miami, throttled the malfunctioning Heat 94-75 on Thursday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Overlooked during the regular season and given little chance to upset the reigning East champions, the Pacers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Game 4 is Sunday at raucous Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

James scored 22 -- 16 in the first half before wearing down -- and Mario Chalmers added 25 for Miami. However, Dwyane Wade, banged up and possibly slowed by a more serious injury, scored only 5 on 2-of-13 shooting for the Heat, already missing forward Chris Bosh because of a strained abdominal muscle and not expected to return for this series.

"It's obvious he wasn't himself." James said of Wade. "Does he want to play better? Of course. He's one of the best players in the world."

Wade didn't play like one and he also had an angry exchange during a timeout in the third quarter with coach Erik Spoelstra, who dismissed it as a heat-of-battle incident.

"That happens," Spoelstra said. "Anybody that has been part of a team or has been a coach or been a player, you have no idea how often things like that happen. That was during a very emotional part of the game. We were getting our butt kicked. Those exchanges happen all the time during the course of an NBA season.

"There's going to be a lot of times where guys say something, you don't like it. You get over it and you move on. We're all connected. Dwyane and I have been together for a long time, a long time. We've been through basically everything. A lot of different roles, a lot of different teams. That really is nothing. That is the least of our concern. That type of fire, shoot, that's good. That's the least of our concerns. Our concern is getting for Sunday."

Wade wouldn't discuss his dispute with Spoelstra.

Indiana outscored Miami 51-32 in the second half, when the Pacers could do no wrong.

They made big shots, challenged everything the Heat tossed in the air and didn't back down from a Miami team that appeared poised to make an easy run to the NBA finals after top-seeded Chicago lost Derrick Rose and was eliminated in the first round.

The Pacers, though, have other plans.

In the second half, Indiana forward David West flung James to the floor in the lane, and Granger later got in the superstar's face after a foul on a breakaway. After winning Game 2 in South Florida by three points, the Pacers wanted to show that win was no fluke and that they're for real.

They're two wins from tilting the balance of power in the East.

"We're certainly happy with the win," said Pacers coach Frank Vogel. "But we've got a lot of work to do."

Vogel's pregame message to his team: "Keep your edge, and enhance your edge."

Enhance, they did.

Hibbert controlled the glass, roaming the lane on both ends and finishing with five blocks.

"My primary focus is defense, defense, defense," he said. "I embrace that role and let the offense come to me. Them being one and done, that's what we talked about in the huddle," he said. "One shot and they're done."

Two more losses and the Heat are done.

With his team down 20 in the closing minutes, Spoelstra waved the white flag and pulled out first Wade, then James, who quickly removed his headband as he got to the bench and then pulled out the mouthpiece inscripted with XVI -- the Roman numeral for 16 -- or the number of wins it takes to get a championship.

When the final horn sounded, the three-time MVP quickly exited the floor.

"When you lose a game like that, all you try to take it away and move on to the next one," James said. "They're playing some good basketball. We're playing pretty good defense on them. We're not scoring the ball."

Indiana busted open a grind-it-out game with a 17-3 run in the third quarter, doing it with an inside-outside attack that had the Heat wondering what was coming next.

Pushed by a rocking home crowd wearing "Gold Swagger" T-shirts and chanting "Beat The Heat" every chance they could, the Pacers pushed their lead to 69-55 after three and then held off one brief run by the Heat in the fourth quarter.

Behind Miami's bench, owner Micky Arison and team president Pat Riley looked on in disbelief.

Despite playing almost 21 minutes and exerting himself on defense, James had enough energy to throw down a vicious left-handed dunk in the final minute of the first half, pulling the Heat even at 43-all. He looked back at the Miami bench as if to say, "How about a little help out here?"

He was doing it all.

Wade, on the other hand, was lost.

He missed all five field-goal attempts, made two turnovers and ran around like a first-time rookie and not a superstar playing in his 95th career postseason game.

Wade finally made his first field goal with 10:22 left in the third to put Miami up 47-45, but the Pacers went on a 10-1 run with Granger dropping a 3-pointer in front of the Heat bench to make it 55-48 and then playfully skipping down the sideline as Miami called a timeout.

With Bosh out, rehabbing in Florida and doubtful to be back at any point in this series, Spoelstra said "everything is out on the table. Everyone has to be ready."

He wasn't kidding.

Spoelstra made a dramatic change to his starting lineup, putting Shane Battier at power forward and using bench-riding center Dexter Pittman in place of Udonis Haslem and Ronny Turiaf in the first five along with James, Wade and Chalmers -- a group he played together for just nine minutes during the regular season.

The moves smelled of desperation and maybe Spoelstra sensed his team was in more trouble than he wanted to admit.

And when the Pacers jumped to an 11-2 lead, amping up an already frenzied Indiana crowd, it appeared Miami was indeed in danger of dropping a second straight game.

However, with James leading the charge, the Heat responded by closing the first quarter on a 24-6 tear.

James and Wade were relaxed following the Heat's morning shootaround. There wasn't a hint of panic in either of their voices and they exuded been-here-done-that attitudes.

James downplayed the idea that he and his teammates would need to maintain some kind of "edge" to be best prepared for a pivotal Game 3 many felt would tilt the series.

"It's the postseason," said James, playing in his 100th postseason game. "There's no secrets about an edge or not having an edge. It's the postseason. You have to be ready and approach every possession as if it's the last. I'm always going to have an edge, so that's not going to change."

Bird Wins NBA Executive of Year

Larry Bird was voted the NBA's Executive of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the first person to be named the league's top executive, coach and MVP.

"It was a long journey; it was a painful journey," Bird told reporters in Indianapolis. "But now we think it's going to pay dividends."

The three-time MVP and Hall of Famer received 12 first-place votes and 88 total points from a panel of team executives throughout the NBA. San Antonio's R.C. Buford (56 points) finished a distant second, followed by Los Angeles Clippers GM Neil Olshey (55).

"I think it's an award well deserved," Pacers forward Danny Granger said. "Larry probably has more accolades than anybody right now."

Bird was hired as team president in 2003 and learned the ropes at Donnie Walsh's side. He helped put together one of the best teams in the league in his first season, a 61-game winner that seemed poised to rule the Eastern Conference for years to come.

Then he endured the franchise-changing brawl at the Palace in Detroit in 2004 that gutted a championship contender; a series of arrests and public embarrassments from his players in the following seasons that alienated a hoops-crazy fan base; and three coaching changes as he looked to change the culture of a free-falling franchise. A four-year playoff drought had many in his home state calling for Bird's head, a startling fall for someone who once could do no wrong in Indiana.

A fed-up Bird started a massive overhaul in 2006. The house-cleaning took years and included the trades of Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Shawne Williams, the exile of Jamaal Tinsley and the move from hard-driving head coach Jim O'Brien to unproven 38-year-old assistant Frank Vogel.

"We had to change the culture," Bird said. "I thought Jimmy O'Brien really helped us in that aspect. He came in here and knew exactly what we had to do. We had to not only change the culture, but we had to take it slow and get some players we thought we could build around."

After exhibiting some questionable personnel acumen early, Bird has pulled off some savvy moves to assemble a cohesive, hard-working team that finds itself deadlocked 1-1 with the heavily favoured Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

"For that franchise to get to this point, it needed to have a guy like Larry who has tremendous patience, a very strong will and the determination to see a plan through," said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, who coached the Pacers from 2003-07 and has been a friend of Bird's since their playing days together in Boston.

Bird added Granger, Paul George, Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough in the draft, George Hill, Lou Amundson and Leandro Barbosa through trades and David West in free agency.

"I left five years ago, and at that point in time he basically laid it out and said this is what it's going to take," Carlisle said in a phone interview from Dallas. "It has played out exactly how he pictured it."

Playing in small-market Indiana, Bird hasn't had the luxury of an open chequebook to chase max salary players in a max salary league. He's had to worry far more about fit, chemistry and work ethic, and that's just fine with him.

"I knew it was going to be tough, and it's still tough," he said. "We don't drive revenues like the big-market teams. We can't go after $17 million players. We've got to go a different way, and we've got to do it a piece at a time."

The new-look, veteran group has restored the Pacers' gritty, blue-collar attitude and helped them to the No. 3 seed in the East and had the fifth-best record (42-24) in the league.

"It's obvious why he got Executive of the Year," said Vogel, who finished third in coach of the year balloting this year. "If you look at how this particular team has been built, it's really remarkable. To be able to build this team with mid-lottery picks and trades is just -- it's near impossible to do."

Now the Pacers are getting prepared to host Game 3 against the Heat on Thursday night. The starless group gave the Heat's three studs -- LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh - all they could handle in a 95-86 loss in Game 1. Bosh went down with an abdominal injury and the Pacers tied the series with a 78-75 grinder in Game 2.

With a promising young core and plenty of salary-cap flexibility expected to be there for him this summer, Bird and the Pacers don't figure to be going away anytime soon.

"Small market teams have got to be careful with how they spend their money," Carlisle said. "Larry has created the perfect scenario of great young talent and flexibility. That franchise is in a phenomenal position."

Pacers v Heat - Game 3 Preview

The Indiana Pacers will play host to Miami Heat in Game 3, after grabbing home-court advantage away from the reigning East champs with a 78-75 win Tuesday in perhaps the most offensively baffling night in Heat history -- when, for the first time in the franchise's 24 years of existence, only two players scored more than five points in a game.

Just about everyone wearing Heat colours struggled, and James and Wade both misfired on key chances in the final moments.

The Pacers were hardly scoring juggernauts either. Still, Indiana was good enough to knot the series, and head home with even more confidence than the ample amount they brought to the start of the matchup.

"Our goal is not to come in here and try to put up a good fight or whatever," Pacers forward David West said in Indianapolis on Wednesday. "We're trying to win the series. We're competing to win the series."

The Pacers got everything they wanted in Game 2.

Instead of the get-out-and-go style that the Heat prefer, Indiana turned Tuesday's matchup into more of the ground-and-pound variety. Pacers coach Frank Vogel calls it smash-mouth basketball, and others may just call it plain old ugly. But it suits Indiana just fine, and unless Miami gets at least one win on the Pacers' floor, Vogel's team will pull off something that few people might have thought possible.

"We've got to keep our edge," Vogel said. "We understand that we feel good about who we are as a basketball team and that we can win this series. But that means nothing. We've got to do it in between the lines."

James had 28 points in Game 2, Wade had 24. The rest of the Heat had 23, the offense sorely missing Bosh, who's out indefinitely -- the rest of this series is all but certain -- with a strained abdominal muscle.

"We're confident and we're looking forward to the challenge," Heat forward Udonis Haslem said. "We can do it. We know we can do it. But it's not going to be easy. So we've got to go in there, we've got to be armoured-up and we've got to be ready to go."

Miami missed all but one of its 16 tries from 3-point range, is 1 for 22 from deep in the series, and lost for the first time in its last 14 playoff games at home against East opponents.

So now, the Heat will have to advance the difficult way.

"It's going to be fun," said James, the three-time NBA MVP who's averaged 28.2 points on the road in playoff games in his career, the best mark of any active player. "It's what the playoffs are all about. At the end of the day, you've got to try to win on somebody else's floor. And we look forward to going up there."

James wore one of the "MVP" headbands the Heat gave out in his honour to fans at Game 1 during Wednesday's practice, Wade answered light-hearted questions about his fashion sense and why gaudy eyeglass frames are all the rage across the league these days, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra sounded far from downtrodden when talking about what he saw on the tape of Game 2.

In short, the Heat insist they're not panicking after one loss, even though it brought back memories of playoff failures from a year ago.

It was Miami's lowest scoring total at home in the "Big Three" era, and down the stretch the Heat just couldn't get a point. In Miami's final seven possessions, James took only one shot, getting blocked by Paul George. He passed the ball twice on the play where a layup try from Wade hit the rim with 16 seconds remaining.

He had an assist on one possession, missed two big free throws on another with 54.3 seconds left, and did not get a touch on three of those trips.

"At the end of the day, I was satisfied with my performance and trying to help us win a ball game," James said. "That's all that matters."

Miami said it was satisfied with the shots it got in Game 2, even though everyone not named Wade or James shot a combined 9 for 34. There will be some tweaking of things before Thursday night, but the tape told Spoelstra that there were parts of Game 2 where things went Miami's way -- sans for the not-so-small measure of the ball going in the basket.

"You've got a 2 seed playing against a 3 seed," Spoelstra said. "That's historically one of the more competitive battles over the years. And that's the way it should be. We had the fourth-best record (in the league), they had the fifth-best record.

"Nothing is going to come easy for either team. You look at it, both teams are shooting under 40 percent."

Which is why the Pacers say they need to get better as well.

"You never want to get too low after a loss or too high after a win," Indiana's Danny Granger said. "We played a good game, but we need to make a lot of improvements on offense and defense."

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The Heat Go West in Miami

Somehow, it all worked out for the Indiana Pacers in the heat oif Miami on Tuesday.

David West scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and the Pacers took home-court advantage away from Miami by beating the Heat 78-75 in Game 2 of the teams' Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday night -- after LeBron James and Dwyane Wade both came up short on key opportunities in the final minute.

"Defense and rebounding," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "We built this team, we started talking about smash-mouth basketball about winning the war in the trenches, and that's with defense and rebounding. That's what I grew up watching Eastern Conference basketball being like. We understand offense is going to come and go, especially like a great defensive team like these guys ... but we're pretty good too."

The series is tied at 1-1, with Game 3 in Indianapolis on Thursday night.

James scored 28 points for Miami and Wade finished with 24, though both failed to convert big chances late. James missed two free throws with 54.3 seconds left and Miami down one, and Wade was short on a layup that would have tied the game with 16 seconds remaining. Moments later, a few of the Pacers were leaping in celebration at midcourt of Miami's floor, something that Wade said was noticed afterward.

"The game is not lost or won with two free throws," James said. "But I definitely want to come through for my teammates. So I'll get an opportunity again. I know I'll be at the line again in that situation. Just go up and make 'em."

Miami was without Chris Bosh, who's sidelined indefinitely -- almost certainly the rest of the series, possibly longer if the Heat advance -- after he strained a lower abdominal muscle in Game 1.

His absence was noted in many ways. Miami shot 35 percent, got outrebounded 50-40 and besides James and Wade, no other Heat player scored more than five points. According to STATS LLC, it was the first time in Heat franchise history that only two players scored more than five points in a game, regular-season or playoffs.

"Chris was missed, no doubt about it," Wade said. "But that's not the reason we lost this ballgame."

The Heat were outscored 28-14 in the third quarter, shooting 3 for 17 in that period. They didn't score in the final 2:41, and when Mario Chalmers missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it on the last play, Miami dropped to 1 for 16 from 3-point range on the night, 1 for 22 in the series.

"Welcome to the playoffs, for us," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "That's how we're viewing it. This series has started. They won on our home court. Now we have to collect ourselves, gather ourselves and get ready for Game 3. That's all that matters right now."

George Hill had 15 points, Danny Granger scored 11 and Paul George added 10 for Indiana, which made only 38 percent of its shots. The Pacers had been 2-9 this season when shooting that poorly, yet got a split in Miami anyway.

"I feel like we should be 2-0," George said.

James had a chance to give Miami the lead with 1:22 left, but his shot was blocked from behind by George, who was fouled two seconds later. He missed both free throws, keeping the Indiana lead at 76-75. And after Wade missed a jumper, James was fouled by Granger -- his sixth -- battling for the rebound with 54.3 seconds remaining.

James missed both shots, and Indiana held on from there.

"Their third leading scorer had five points and that's what you want to do," Granger said. "If LeBron James gets 11 assists they are probably going to win. They scored a lot, but we stopped everyone else."

Emotions picked up considerably in the fourth.

Wade was steaming when he missed a shot after trying to create contact with Indiana's Dahntay Jones with 9:53 left. As Wade argued, Jones went the other way and set Leandro Barbosa up for a score that put the Pacers up 63-56.

Chalmers turned the ball over on the next possession, and as the Pacers took off for what set up as a 2-on-none break, Wade caught Darren Collison from behind and knocked him over. A flagrant-1 was called, Collison hit both free throws, the Indiana lead was nine and tensions were suddenly high.

The Heat then scored the next six points. 

James -- who got hit in the head by Granger with 7:25 left, sparking a bit of shoving that led to double-technicals given to both players -- added a putback off an offensive rebound and Wade did the same about a minute later, getting Miami within 69-66 with 5:57 left.

The whole game was a grind. Indiana scored 16 points in the first seven minutes of the first half, then scored 17 in the next 17 minutes. And even after a drought like that, Miami's lead was only 38-33 at the break. Miami was 0-for-7 on shots that would have pushed its margin to double digits in the first half.

"Playoffs," George said, "are about grinding it out."

James missed a free throw that would have tied it with 4:30 remaining, but after George got the rebound, James dove in to create a jump ball situation. The MVP easily won the tap, sending it to Wade, whose bank shot over West put Miami back on top 72-71.

Barbosa scored on the next Indiana possession. The Pacers weren't rattled, and never trailed again.

"We never felt like we were the underdogs," Granger said.

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Pacers Feel The Miami Heat

No More Magic for Orlando at Pacers

After years of losing and players finding trouble, the Indiana Pacers finally gave their fans something to really cheer about. Danny Granger scored 25 points to help the Pacers defeat the Orlando Magic 105-87 on Tuesday night and clinch their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series 4-1.