MIAMI – By their standards, the Miami Heat played no defense for three quarters.
They played just enough in the fourth.
LeBron James had 41 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, Chris Bosh added 19 points and the Miami Heat rallied from 14 points down to beat the Indiana Pacers 117-112 on Tuesday night for their seventh straight victory.
Dwyane Wade scored 17 and Mario Chalmers added 16 for Miami, which moved five games ahead of second-place Atlanta in the Southeast Division. The Heat also got within a half-game of idle Boston for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Roy Hibbert scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds for Indiana, which fell to 4-1 under interim coach Frank Vogel. Danny Granger scored 19 and Tyler Hansbrough added 18 for the Pacers.
Chalmers forced Dahntay Jones into a five-second call with 8.9 seconds left, with Indiana out of time outs, and the Heat escaped.
Indiana was shooting better than 60 percent at one point in the second half, and was at 57 percent entering the final quarter. But the Pacers shot 5 for 18 in the fourth, including one dreadful stretch that gave the Heat life.
Indiana missed nine straight shots over a span of nearly 6 1/2 minutes of the final quarter, but Granger's layup with 51.9 seconds remaining — which snapped the drought — got the Pacers within 111-110.
Even after more than half a quarter without a field goal, all Indiana needed was a stop. The Heat weren't about to let that happen.
Mike Miller missed a 3-pointer, but Bosh grabbed the offensive rebound to extend the possession and James eventually wound up connecting from 17 feet with 14.1 seconds left for a 113-110 Heat lead.
James made two free throws shortly after to maintain the three-point margin, and Eddie House made two more from the line with 6.5 seconds remaining to seal Miami's 38th win of the season.
Darren Collison scored 15 points, Josh McRoberts added 12 and Jones scored 11 for Indiana, which was trying to join Boston and Dallas as teams that beat Miami twice this season.
Almost happened, too.
The Heat spoke both Monday and pregame Tuesday about wanting to avenge a 93-77 home loss to the Pacers on Nov. 22. It easily was their worst home defeat of the season — considering the 16-point margin in that game exceeded the 13-point margin of their other four losses in Miami combined.
Words didn't translate into play. At least, not for much of the night, they didn't.
James had a huge first half, 26 points on 11 for 12 shooting, with six rebounds and four assists. With him on the court in the opening two quarters, Miami outscored Indiana by 11.
Without him, the Heat were outscored by 14 — and it happened quickly. James only got one break in the opening half, a 3-minute, 35-second rest at the start of the second quarter. And Indiana set the tone in that stretch, outscoring Miami 18-4 to turn a 33-29 deficit into a 45-37 lead by the time James came back into the game.
Hansbrough carried Indiana in the quarter, going 6 of 6 for 13 points. Jones scored nine more in the second and when Hibbert scored over Erick Dampier with 2:02 left in the half the Pacers found themselves up 66-52.
James got the Heat back into the game, and fast. Miami scored the final 11 points of the half with James on the attack — outrunning Granger in transition for one dunk, flashing out of the high post and taking a pass from Chalmers for another, then converting a spinning layup while getting fouled to draw the Heat within 66-63 at halftime.
Indiana was undeterred. Granger made three 3-pointers in the third quarter, and the Pacers used a 16-5 run to take a 97-90 lead entering the fourth. Miami got within one point twice, and two points on three other occasions, but never held the lead in the period.
It took until 4:34 remained in the fourth for Miami to get back on top, coming when Dampier slammed in the rebound of a miss by Wade for a 106-105 edge — the first Heat lead since the opening 2 minutes of the second quarter.
source: Yahoo News
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