At halftime, it was hard to tell how to feel about the game. The Pacers had weathered the storm, leading 53-51, despite 12 turnovers, Mike Miller hitting three three-points, and Dwyane Wade being, well…Dwyane Wade.  However, they’d shot almost 59% and still couldn’t maintain separation.

Not sanguine, as it turns out.

It was a late third quarter fizzle – leading to a 10-point Miami margin heading into the fourth – that doomed the Pacers. Larry Bird’s players didn’t roll over this time, and they fought it back to 5 at one point and 6 at another. But, much to their chagrin, Wade and LeBron James always had an answer. The pair scored 19 of Miami’s 24 in the quarter, and combined for 69 points on the night.

Over the last three games, James and Wade averaged 33 points each. LeBron also averaged 11 rebounds and 8 assists, while Wade contributed 7 rebounds and almost 4 assists. The cold, hard truth is that LeBron and Wade – by themselves – are probably the third or best team in the league.

And they were the better team tonight. Congratulations to the Heat, who move on to face the winner of Philly-Boston series for the Eastern Conference crown. Congratulations to the Pacers, who had a great season end too soon, and now get to figure out how to take the next step.

More on this game in the hours and days to come. For now, here is how each guy played individually tonight. Agree? Disagree? Express your thoughts below in the comments or yell at me (@8pts9secs) or Tim (@TimDonahue8p9s) on Twitter.

	David West, PF 41 MIN | 10-16 FG | 5 REB | 2 AST | 3 TO | 24 PTS Unreal early in the game, and a warrior throughout, West left it all on the floor for his adopted franchise tonight.
	Danny Granger, 38 MIN | 6-14 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 4 AST | 15 PTS Scored 9 first quarter points and gave 38 minutes, but once the adrenaline wore off, he was clearly hobbled. I watched him closely in the first quarter, and he clearly would have to gather himself to make plays. After a while, the tank ran dry.
	Roy Hibbert, C 40 MIN | 5-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 8 REB | 4 TO | 12 PTS Prototypical Roy – enough flashes to make the casual observer think he should get a lot more touches, but not enough tools to actually get them. No question, the Pacers can scheme and pass better, but Hibbert also needs to get better at holding position, at catching the ball and being strong with it, and most importantly, he has to become something better than catastrophic as the screener in the high PnR.
	George Hill, SG 35 MIN | 7-13 FG | 3-5 FT | 2 REB | 5 AST | 18 PTS When Hill missed first one, then two of his three free throws after drawing contact on a three-point attempt, I tweeted, “feels harbinger-ish.” 18 points and 5 assists is a nice line, but he really isn’t a point guard. He loses track of what the offense is supposed to be doing too much.
	Paul George, 43 MIN | 4-10 FG | 10 REB | 2 AST | 3 TO | 11 PTS No way around it, Paul George spent most of the series and most of this game as a disaster offensively, and we could spend days discussing his travails running the fast break. But, he’s young, and he’s a good kid. Bizarrely, if you want encouragement, watch him guarding Wade from tonight’s game. It will make you feel better about Paul, and also make you appreciate just how ungodly unstoppable Wade was.

	Dahntay Jones, SG 4 MIN | 0-0 FG | 3-3 FT | 3 PTS Only one rotation as the starting unit played 31 minutes together.
	Leandro Barbosa, SG 8 MIN | 0-1 FG | 1 REB | 3 TO | 0 PTS Almost certainly the Blur’s final game as a Pacer. They needed him to give them some points, but he had only turnovers. He was a great add for the price, and he really helped this team down the stretch and in the first round. But he just didn’t help against Miami.
	Louis Amundson, C 3 MIN | 1-1 FG | 1 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS Perhaps his last game as a Pacer, though I would imagine TPTB are interested in bringing him back for the right price.
	Tyler Hansbrough, 9 MIN | 0-4 FG | 3-4 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 3 PTS For a couple minutes, it was Buckaroo Banzai – terror on the offensive glass, bundle of energy. But then, it was gone. He missed all four of his shots, and really produced nothing after the first quarter. Some very hard questions ahead for Tyler.
	Darren Collison, 16 MIN | 1-3 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 AST | 5 PTS After playing so well – and being so important – in the Orlando series, there just wasn’t a role for DC against Miami. To small to guard Wade, with no opposing point guard to pressure, his defense wandered, and so did his game. It bears re-watching to see how much of his struggles were cause by the rest of the bench being so bad, and how much of the bench’s struggles were on him.

While there were many things the Pacers could have done better, and many opportunities they missed, the basic reality is that the Heat were just better. Specifically, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were just better. For Miami to win this series, those two players had to deliver nothing short of greatness.

And deliver it they did.

The bastards.

I was in the Pacer locker room after the game. It was a subdued, quiet place. George Hill sat leaning back in his chair looking at the ceiling. Paul George was hunched over, chin in hand, engaged in his normal postgame ritual of reading the stat sheet. Danny Granger sat patiently, but quietly answering questions for a procession of reporters – each waiting on queue to ask him the same thing in a slightly different way.

Then there was David West.

West was scheduled to be the Pacer player coming to the table in the interview room, so he wasn’t – strictly speaking – available for questions in the locker room. As people moved around him, West was million miles away. Or, more accurately, he was a few hundred feet away and in a different time. In his thousand yard stare, you could almost see the flicker as he replayed the game in his mind. Each missed shot. Each turnover. Every Dwyane Wade bucket – each one more ridiculous than the last.

Later, he would talk about the game in hushed, thoughtful tones. He would talk about the future, and this as a good learning experience for the younger guys, and the fact that the Pacers need to  dedicate themselves to getting past this point next season. He would sum it up by saying, “It just wasn’t our time,” but not without betraying his underlying belief that it could have, perhaps even should have been.

But, sitting in the locker room, he was just a man trying to get a hold of his pain and disappointment. In that way, and in that moment, David West was exactly like many, many Pacer fans. He was like me.

For as much as tonight hurts, I can’t help but smile. It has been a very long time since the end of the Pacer season arrived with regret, instead of relief. It is a familiar pain…a welcome pain. It’s the kind of pain you can only feel when your team matters to you again.

I wandered around the locker room, picking up snippets of audio from different players, but nothing extensive. I had plenty of opportunities to ask questions, but none came to me. So, I drifted around, hoping for some divine inspiration, until I noticed that Pacer P.R. Director David Benner had briefly abandoned his guard post around West.

After glancing around, I slipped over to West’s locker, and told him I had no questions. I only wanted to thank him for how helpful he’d been to me as a writer during my first season with credentials, and how much I’d enjoyed watching him play.

How much I’d enjoyed watching them play.

The analysis of what happened, and where Indiana goes from here will come in due time with due diligence. It is not coming tonight.

Tonight, I only have the pain that feels like a long lost old friend. And while that makes me sad, it also makes me happy … if that makes any sense at all.

And here we sit.

So heading into tonight’s game, here are my thoughts on a few things.

Danny Has To Be Effective

In my opinion, the Pacers’ chances begin with this, and they’ll end with it if he’s limited. The Pacers need him to be able to hit shots, and they need him to be able to chase LeBron. But mostly, they just need him.

When Granger went down on Tuesday night, the Pacers staggered. While it’s true they hadn’t played well up to that point, Indiana was still within a bucket when it happened. Also, they probably hadn’t played as poorly as they did in the first half of Game 2 — which they ended up winning. For all the flak Danny gets, he’s crucial to this team. Put simply, they are significantly less talented without him. But more that that they are incomplete. This illustrates a point that I’ve been trying (and failing) to make all season: the Pacers are actually more susceptible to injury, generally, because they rely on more players.

Consider this: For Miami to be a good (read: playoff team), they basically just need LeBron to be healthy and productive. To be a threat to win the Eastern Conference title and perhaps even an NBA title, they need LeBron and one of either Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh to be healthy and productive. (I’m not sure that it matters which.) If they have all three, then they are favorites in the East, and at least even favorite versus anyone in the West for the title. In effect, as long as they don’t lose LeBron, they are better than most teams.

For Indiana to play at this level, however, they pretty much need their top six players (Granger, David West, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, Paul George, and Darren Collison) to play well. In addition, they probably need a good contribution from Leandro Barbosa, and they need the rest of the bench (Hansbrough, Amundson, Jones) to at least tread water. While they have more bodies that help, that’s also more pain for the whole when any one is either hurt or unproductive.

Further, they are built this way. This probably goes a long way towards explaining their propensity for what fellow contributor Jeremy Comstock called “vomit inducing losses.” They lean on each other so much, that when one falls, they all fall. And while they’re all important, Danny Granger probably bears more weight in this foundation than any player, with the possible exception of David West.

Does that mean that the Pacers would have won Tuesday, or will win tonight, if Danny were healthy? No. It just means that I can’t see them winning without him being a meaningful contributor.

The Suspensions Are Irrelevant

There was a bunch of hubbub about the flagrant fouls on Tuesday night, and the NBA came out with further punishment yesterday. None of the players involved are of any significant meaning to the series.

Let’s recap.

Udonis Haslem suspended for Game 6 - At one point in his career, the loss of Haslem would have been crippling. I don’t think that’s true any more. Though some will point to his Game 4 performance, I will argue that while his points hurt, the Pacers were beaten by the outrageous performances of James and Wade. James and Wade are the difference. Haslem is not.

Tyler Hansbrough upgraded to Flagrant 2, will play in Game 6  – I’m sure many Pacer fans will argue, but I don’t see Tyler as a factor. He will play, and because of that, he has the chance to make a difference. I just don’ t think he can or will. After scoring 22 points on 10-for-19 shooting in his playoff debut, Tyler has averaged 5.6 points on 31% shooting over his last 14 playoff games. This playoffs, the Pacers are a net 10 points per 100 worse with Tyler on the floor, and their overall rebounding percentage drops from 54.3% to 47.6%. I see his reprieve as no real cause for celebration.

Dexter Pittman suspended for three (3) games -  Really. Does anybody care?

Were these penalties appropriate? My opinion isn’t of any consequence, which is why it’s so easy to give it. I’d say Haslem’s appropriate, Tyler’s too light, and Pittman’s way too light.

My take on the fouls committed by both Haslem and Hansbrough is that they were defacto punches. Haslem has no real grounds for defense, and the fact that he caught Tyler in the shoulder instead of the face is really just happenstance. Given the size and motion of the players, the force involved in the blow was probably greater than any punch that I — or most of the people watching — could throw. It was intentional, and it was clearly retaliation. Plus, Miami had probably used up their get out of jail free card when Wade was not suspended for Game 3.

Hansbrough’s situation is fuzzier, and many don’t feel it warrants a suspension. That’s fine. His play was much closer to an actual basketball play, and he did pretty clearly get the ball. However, for me, that’s a pretty thin fig leaf. The full chopping down motion is the killer for me. It, too was unnecessary, and it wasn’t even a good basketball play. Again, you have a 6-foot-9-inch, 250-lb man swinging his arm with full force. Anybody care to guess what kind of damage that’s capable of doing? You can’t swing like that on a basketball court. You just can’t.

Pittman? Well, Pittman himself is unimportant in virtually every aspect. His sole purpose for being seems to be simply to keep the ground underneath him from flying into the air. However, the concept of a meaningless scrub headhunting on the basketball court isn’t.  Seems to me that it would have been a great opportunity to send a message — pour encourager les autres — to all those guys who think they have nothing to lose by doing something like that, no, really, you do. But … that probably would get resistance from the NBPA, and there’s really nothing that will prevent someone from being absolutely committed to stupidity.

S-O-F-T is a S-T-A-T-E of M-I-N-D

Being involved in sports — as a participant, coach, or spectator — is in no small part an exercise in immersing yourself in a slurry made up of testosterone and macho bullshit. None of us are immune, and if we were all honest, we’d all admit that we like that part of it — a lot. So, naturally, when Larry Bird called his team “soft,” then helped Jared out by spelling it for him, it created quite the buzz.

These comments are viewed largely in the context of the flagrant fouls discussed above, and many wonder if the Pacer prez wants to see some retaliation. Given the nature of sports — how things were occasionally handled when Bird played — it’s easy to get there. While that may be want Bird meant, I actually took it completely differently.

I viewed it from the perspective of the way the Pacers had played the game mentally — especially after Granger left. The team staggered, and was timid and indecisive in almost every move. They were stagnant, made sloppy passes, sloppy cuts, sloppy rotations defensively. They didn’t even create any 50/50 balls, let alone get them.

After the Game 1 loss to Orlando, I spoke about the Pacers’ need to attack. In a podcast this weekend for the Heartland Summer Series, I said that the Pacers and Vogel always focused on doing what they do and being who they are, as opposed to wins or losses. That didn’t happen Tuesday. They stopped being the Pacers. Some of that was driven by Danny leaving them incomplete, but I can understand Bird’s disappointment when it certainly appeared that his team simply packed their bags in the third quarter, and waited for the game to end.

It’s important to note that the difference between S-O-F-T and S-T-R-O-N-G has little to do with cheap shots or retaliation. It has everything to do with maintaining composure and focus, and playing with force. More than anything else, I took Bird’s words to be telling his players, “You’re better than this.”

Because they are.

Points in the Paint

A big subject for the series has been the Pacers’ size advantage with Roy Hibbert and David West, and there’s no doubt those two have been key in the wins. A key metric in this discussion has been points in the paint (PitP), and there are some things to keep in mind about that.

First, as Charles Barkley pointed out on Tuesday’s pre-game show, “points in the paint” means points scored in the paint, regardless of the action. Therefore, fast break dunks and layups count as PitP. On Tuesday, Miami outscored the Pacers in the paint by 20, which corresponded pretty directly to their 22-2 advantage in fast break points.

Second, Miami — while “smaller” — was one of the best interior defensive teams in the league. I discussed this in the spiderwebs, but it’s also evident in the fact that they allowed the second fewest PitP in the league this season, at around 36.6 per game. The are extremely adept at fronting the post while bullying the passer, and that’s very difficult for a team like Indiana to defeat.

Third, Miami is very good at scoring PitP — finishing 8th in the NBA this season. Both LeBron James (758) and Dwyane Wade (572) had more PitP than either Roy Hibbert (564) or David West (424). While some of that is purely a function of the fact that James and Wade are higher volume scorers, it’s also a good reminder that coming into the paint is at least as big a factor in PitP as being in the paint.

Finally, Indiana — though big — is only a middle-of-the-road PitP team, ranking 13th at about 41.2 per game. Only about 42% of their points come from the paint, largely because their offense is predicated on probing the defense with a post pass or pick-and-roll/backdown, then reversing the ball to catch the defense rotating. The Pacer offense works best when the “second side” is getting a lot of action. While that translates to good shots, not all are in the paint.

In the Orlando series, I said Indy needed to win these categories: PitP and fastbreak points. The mind set I outlined is still necessary, but when we measure, we need to see the Pacers keep pace with Miami in these categories. If they can, then I don’t believe Miami will be able to separate from Indiana, and the Pacers will have a much better shot at a win.

What’s Gonna Happen Tonight?

The short answer is, “I don’t know.” However, as much as it pains me to write this, I think the Pacers’ season ends tonight.

For whatever else you think of them, Miami is an easy team to fear. If James and Wade deliver strong games, then I think it’s just a question of the final score. As I type this — with no inside knowledge whatsoever — I am not expecting Danny Granger to be effective tonight, and I think that will be too much to overcome.

Still, that’s an intellectual assessment. The Pacers are capable of winning this game — regardless of Danny’s condition — and I still have hope that they will. The series? Well, get it to a Game 7 and then we’ll worry about it.

For tonight, I say the Pacers need to be who they have proven to be, and see what happens.

Quite the game. Not much to analyze. Pacers looked like they should have gotten blown out early but somehow stuck around. Then did get blown out badly in what was one of the worst offensive nights I can remember from this team all season. Not exactly what you want to be doing in a near-must-win Game 5 probably.

There were a ton of flagrant fouls and we’ll get to that later, I guess, since we probably have to. But most unfortunately, Danny Granger sprained his ankle, left the game and is now day-to-day heading into Game 6. After the game he said his foot would have to “fall off” for him to not “at least try to play” on Thursday, so we can expect him in uniform — “he’ll just take a bunch of pain medication.” Whether he can be effective remains to be seen. David West also sprained his knee but he could have returned the the game. Had, ya know, they not been down 20 in the third quarter.

More on this game in the hours and days to come. For now, here is how each guy played individually tonight. Agree? Disagree? Express your thoughts below in the comments or yell at me (@8pts9secs) or Tim (@TimDonahue8p9s) on Twitter.

	David West, PF 32 MIN | 5-13 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 10 PTS Missed his first 5 shots, some which came on good looks, and helped set the tone for an offense that couldn’t have been much less productive.And don’t be fooled by the not-egregiously bad line. 2 made shots came after it was basically over. He was 3-for-11 in meaningful time with few boards while getting handled by Shane Battier.
	Danny Granger, SF 20 MIN | 3-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 10 PTS His 3s were all the Pacers had going for them early. The injury looked like it really hobbled him. Certainly won’t be 100% for Game 6, which doesn’t bode well.
	Roy Hibbert, C 28 MIN | 3-10 FG | 1-2 FT | 12 REB | 1 AST | 8 PTS Hard to be mad when he’s that uninvolved, but he really doesn’t establish great position or make himself a good target. Terrible entry passers are the larger problem and he of course needs the ball more. But need to not miss layups you do get and generally be more efficient.
	George Hill, SG 28 MIN | 3-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS What would ya say ya do here?
	Paul George, SG 28 MIN | 3-9 FG | 4-5 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 11 PTS Same as West with the final line not being gross thing. He was. Very much so. Played some decent half-court defense early but had two ugly turnovers early and only made 1 of his first 7 shots. Defense is his job, first and foremost, but he needs to do something. And if he isn’t going to initiate offense in the half-court, he at least can’t blow good transition chances.

	Dahntay Jones, SG 24 MIN | 1-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 5 PTS MVP probably, which is hilarious because look at his line. Played a bunch of good one-on-one defense of Dwyane though and stuck a corner three back when points still mattered. (5 of him missed shots were in the 4th.)
	Leandro Barbosa, SG 18 MIN | 3-10 FG | 3 REB | 2 AST | 6 PTS LVP probably. The sequence when he heaved up a 28-footer and then took a 15-foot finger roll aptly summer up his night. Or perhaps there was the time he iso’d Mike Miller, who can barely walk anyway and was only wearing one shoe, and settled for a 3. Take your pick.
	Louis Amundson, C 13 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-2 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS Seemed to play well enough but didn’t have much impact on the game other than that one dunk.
	A.J. Price, G 3 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS Garbage time.
	Tyler Hansbrough, 17 MIN | 2-6 FG | 4-4 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 8 PTS Almost took Wade’s eye out and helped ramp the animosity of this series up a notch. So there’s that. Hit a nice jumper. Was fine overall in his first-half sting if not overwhelmingly helpful. Nearly lost his left arm to a vicious Thor attack from Udonis Haslem.
	Darren Collison, PG 21 MIN | 2-6 FG | 4-4 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 8 PTS Missed a layup that was pretty ugly to watch. But certainly added some life to the effort and tried to push the ball. It didn’t work, per se, mind you, but he gave it a go.
	Jeff Pendergraph, F 3 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS Garbage time.
	Lance Stephenson, SG 6 MIN | 0-4 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 AST | 1 PTS May have gotten a concussion.

There are certainly things that the Pacers can look back and in regret. They went for too many knockout threes early when they were rolling, forcing turnovers and running instead of dishing out body blows that would have extended the lead. A team like Miami can always come back so you’re not going to beat them in the first quarter. So the priority should be stacking made hoops not trying to run them out of the building.

There are also so definite reasons to question why coach Frank Vogel left Roy Hibbert and David West on the bench so long in the fourth quarter when they only had four fouls. Miami was up 4 when West checked out with 2:58 left in the third quarter and only 5 when he and Hibbert came back in with only 6:11 left in the fourth. So the game didn’t get away from Indiana by any means. But there is certainly an argument to be made that Miami took complete control of the game against a non-traditional Pacers small-ball lineup, and that Vogel should have gone back with this A-team as soon as possible to exert his team’s physicality and size back on the game when there was still more time to recover from the onslaught that hit them in the third.

But, yeah, it was mostly that.

LeBron was a force of nature, dropping a ridiculous 40/18/9 stat line that hasn’t occurred in the Playoffs since Elgin Baylor did so roughly a half-century ago. And after Dwayne Wade got going at the end of the second quarter, it was like being hit by a rogue wave in a row boat. The two of them combined to score 48 of 50 Heat points at one time and Dwyane didn’t miss a shot in the third, scoring 14 in the period — just like his partner in crime, James.

So, sure, look at the film, question your decisions and for god’s sake get back in the post next game. But more than anything, just realize that acts of God happen. The key is to not go quite so fetal next time and continue to score on the other end, instead of getting out-scored 30-16 (which was really only that close because of Darren Collison) in the third.

More on this game in the hours and days to come. For now, here is how each guy played individually tonight. Agree? Disagree? Express your thoughts below in the comments or yell at me (@8pts9secs) or Tim (@TimDonahue8p9s) on Twitter.

	David West, PF 28 MIN | 3-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 8 PTS Virtual no-show, which was weird because he spent a lot of his time being guarded by Shane Battier. A fine gentleman and defender indeed, but a guy West’s size should be able to do more than score 8 pts on 8 shots. Foul trouble also plagued his game.
	Danny Granger, 42 MIN | 8-18 FG (4/9 3PT) | 5 REB | 3 AST | 20 PTS Shot well and played well offensively in general although you would like to see him be the one, if West isn’t, to take control of a few possessions and make sure something good happens. He wasn’t able to do that when the drought was at its worst in the 3rd. He also, ya know, gave up 40 pts to LeBron, but sorta hard to stop a meteor so hard to be too mad about that.
	Roy Hibbert, C 32 MIN | 4-9 FG | 9 REB | 3 BLK | 3 TO | 10 PTS Still protected the rim well but LeBron and especially Wade finally decided to forego the pull-ups and floaters in lieu of going at the big fella at the hoop. It worked quite often and put Roy into foul trouble. On offense, he wasn’t all that active.
	George Hill, SG 30 MIN | 2-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 4 AST | 8 PTS Just pretty terrible all around. Let Chalmers get free for some early 3s and never made up for it on offense. Lead disappeared on his watch in the 3rd quarter.
	Paul George, 36 MIN | 4/11 FG | 4/4 FT | 6 RB | 5 AST | 3 ST | 13 PT Played well at times on both ends. Torched by D-Wade, but I think the Spartan 300 might not have been able to stop Flash. Still was active and got deflections although he lost a cutting Dwyane too many times. At some point, when he’s going like that, you — Indy’s best perimeter defender — need to prioritize slowing down the man over abiding by team principles. Missed some open 3s.

	Dahntay Jones, SG 3 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS Probably should have played more but understandable why he didn’t.
	Leandro Barbosa, SG 19 MIN | 3-10 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 8 PTS Wasn’t particularly good.
	Louis Amundson, C 16 MIN | 1-2 FG | 7 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS Active enough.
	Tyler Hansbrough, 14 MIN | 2-5 FG | 4-4 FT | 1 REB | 2 TO | 8 PTS Was looking really good early, getting to the line and ensuring that there was no drop off in physicality when West left with foul trouble. But those two travels on what should have been two very needed buckets, right as things were unraveling, loom larger than the good start. 1 board isn’t acceptable.
	Darren Collison, PG 20 MIN | 6-7 FG | 4-6 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 16 PTS Glorious. His 2nd quarter stint is the same type of game-changing performance he has been showing the whole playoffs. He wasn’t making things happen in the 3rd/4th as well, so wtth how he was going, in an ideal world, probably should have played the whole 4th. But this Heat series sucks for him since there really isn’t anyone for him to guard if Chalmers is on the bench.

I think the Pacers are attempting to do something fairly unique to LeBron James: punish him physically.

LeBron is, arguably, the most impressive physical specimen on the planet. I doubt there is any other human who could match his combination of size, strength, quickness, and stamina. He can physically dominate just about any player in the NBA. Conventional wisdom has led most teams to shy away from challenging LeBron physically — the way teams do with a less imposing player like Kevin Durant. Last year, Dallas laid a bit of a blueprint by trying to wear LeBron out by forcing him to guard smaller players.

In this series, we see LeBron mainly guarding two players: Danny Granger and David West. In Game 1, the Pacers tried the conventional method of giving the ball to West and letting him try to score on LeBron. This wasn’t incredibly successful. Since then, however, the Pacers have attacked James differently. Instead of throwing the ball to West and watching him work, West is working on LeBron without the ball, seemingly trying to push, shove, bump, and elbow him at every opportunity. If LeBron fronts West, David shoves him out to the three-point line. If he plays behind him, West shoves him as far under the basket as he can go. When a shot goes up, West boxes him out as aggressively as he possibly can. The message is clear: we can’t beat you unless we beat you.

For his part Granger is doing everything in his power to prove to James that he is not afraid. This occasionally borders on destructive silliness, but it’s important for Granger to assert himself. Granger is not David West, but he is a big, strong man, and he’s not being shy about letting LeBron know that.

Roy Hibbert finally learned how to be the biggest man on the floor. 

I’ve been critical of Hibbert in the past, mainly because he’s always come across as soft, both mentally and physically. The best way to defend him has always been to go small because he’s never been able to assert himself against smaller guys. This was obviously not the case last night. For one of the first times in his career, we saw Roy Hibbert realize that he was 4-to-6 inches taller than his opponents and do something about it.

In addition, I think the beginning of the game showed us the blueprint for Roy’s path from above average to pretty freakin’ good: the mid-range game. For years we’ve heard that he is a good shooter (even from Bill Walton), and the assertion seemed to make some sense. He’s a good free-throw shooter. He’s got a soft touch. His form looked pretty good. Yet when he would hoist a mid-range shot in game, the results were often ugly. In the first quarter last night, however, he knocked down every mid-range shot he took (notice I’m refraining from calling them jumpers since I’m not really sure his feet leave the ground). If Roy can add this mid-range shot to his game with Ilgauskas or Nesterovic-esque consistency, he’ll transform from a borderline All-Star into a perennial one.

Balance is the key. 

Tim’s already written better than I ever could about the “team” aspect, but one thing I realized last night is that balance is far more than just having multiple guys scoring points. It really applies to every aspect of the game, and when the Pacers are playing well, they’re playing in balance. Balance is Hill and Collison not dribbling 8-10 seconds off the shot-clock waiting to start the offense. Balance is Hibbert and West not taking 8-10 seconds to set-up a post move. Balance is not Granger or George or Barbosa poised in the triple-threat position watching the clock tick down. Balance is making quick and selfless decisions and actions. It is every player striving to impact the game as much as possible no matter who they are guarding or how many shots their getting. Balance is what will help the Pacers win this series, if this is, in fact, a winnable series.

Ball don’t lie. 

Dwayne Wade should have been suspended. He had no business playing in that game last night.

But I sure am glad that he did.

Better team blew out two superstars. And by that I mean LeBron and Mario Chalmers. Game 4 on Sunday. Get loud, Pacers fans. Win that one and the Eastern Conference Finals talk can become real.

More on this game in the hours and days to come. For now, here is how each guy played individually tonight. Agree? Disagree? Express your thoughts below in the comments or yell at me (@8pts9secs) or Tim (@TimDonahue8p9s) on Twitter.

	David West, PF 40 MIN | 5-13 FG | 4-4 FT | 9 REB | 2 AST | 14 PTS Indy out-scored Miami 42-27 after he thumped Mario Chalmers in the chest for slapping the ball out of his hands during a stoppage in play.
	Danny Granger, SF 40 MIN | 6-15 FG | 2-2 FT | 7 REB | 4 AST | 17 PTS Made his first shot then missed his other 4 attempts in the first half. Then poured in 10 points in the 3rd and got chippy with LeBron. That, along with West being a jerk to Chalmers, ramped up the intensity and seemed to fuel the Pacers to a 51-32 rout of Miami in the 2nd half.
	Roy Hibbert, C 33 MIN | 9-16 FG | 1-2 FT | 18 REB | 1 AST | 19 PTS What can you even say? Easily his best game as a professional. I almost want to say his stat line doesn’t even tell the whole story, but 19/18/5 is some Tim Duncan stuff.
	George Hill, SG 33 MIN | 6-8 FG | 5-5 FT | 2 REB | 5 AST | 20 PTS A team-high 20 pts on 8 shots is magnificent. Especially since his back-to-back-to-back second quarter jumpers took Indy from down 3 to up 1 over 2 minutes right after Miami looked like they were starting to dial in.
	Paul George, SG 33 MIN | 3-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 9 PTS There’s a lot you can say (and we will later in depth) but let’s just go with this, via ESPN Stats: “Dwyane Wade is 1st player since Eric Snow in 2001 with 5+ turnovers and 5 or fewer points, rebounds and assists (min. 35 minutes)”

	Dahntay Jones, SG 7 MIN | 1-3 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 5 PTS The line doesn’t say much but he was really big. But before his 5 points to open the 2nd quarter, the Pacers hadn’t scored in over 3 minutes. This and some physical defense righted a ship that had been drifting towards Ugly Island late in the 1st quarter.
	Leandro Barbosa, SG 15 MIN | 0-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 0 PTS Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty gross.
	Louis Amundson, C 7 MIN | 0-0 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 1 PTS Ya know, Lou’d it up out there.
	A.J. Price, G 1 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS Garbage time.
	Tyler Hansbrough, PF 14 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS Had some great plays: a dunk and a mighty fine assist to David West for a layup. But needs to work on finishing. Should have had two other buckets. Good stuff, process-wise though.
	Darren Collison, PG 14 MIN | 2-7 FG | 3-4 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 7 PTS | -2 Missed more shots than you would like but gets some style points for drilling back-to-back jumpers to turn up the blowout margin early in the 4th.
	Jeff Pendergraph, F 3 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS Garbage time.
	Lance Stephenson, SG 1 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS Garbage time. Did this though. Which was hilarious.

• With Chris Bosh out indefinitely, we are all left to wonder who will fill the role of “third best player who is left out of Wade and Lebron’s press conference.”

• “Ronny Turiaf starts for the Miami Heat.” The Pacers shouldn’t need any more bulletin board material than that.

• Nobody ever wants to give Erick Spoelstra credit, but every player on the Miami Heat plays good defense and nothing comes easy for their opponents offensively. When Mike Miller seems like a good defender you know there is some good coaching going on.

• Aggression. That’s what you want from George Hill and Darren Collison. When Hill is aggressive on offense and Collison comes in and brings his own offensive flair, it is just a reminder of what the Heat lack. Mario Chalmers does what is asked of him for the Heat, but there is no doubt that either Hill or Collison would start for Miami.

• Lebron James makes Ronny Turiaf 439% better. This guy really is the MVP.

• I realize that Lebron James has physical attributes like no one one else in the NBA, but if you think that James was just “blessed” with natural talents then ask yourself why Paul George has had such a small impact on the playoffs thus far.

• Dahnaty Jones swag is in my top five favorite swags.

• Cheap Hansbrough fouls are frustrating.

• The terrible shooting an double-digit first half turnovers for the Pacers are just embarrassing. The Pacers did not show up ready to play competitive basketball with a great team. Luckily the Heat had no intentions of resembling a great team.

• A playoff game should not be this hard to watch through nearly three quarters. It’s hard to tell if both defenses were working their butt off or if both offenses were just kind of doing whatever.

• The Indiana Pacers flat out love the third quarter. Outscored the Heat 28-14 in this one.

• Lebron takes flopping to a whole different level. It seems like he is willingly putting his body in danger despite very little contact.

• Wade’s flagrant on Collison was pretty unnecessary, but at least the ball hit him directly in the face as it was happening.

• Did anybody else wake up when Granger and Lebron got into it?

• Marv Albert basically told the Miami Heat they don’t want to mess around with David West. They were correct.

• TNT ran a segment called “Miller Time” in which they provided a very boring explanation of why Danny Granger actually has four fouls instead of the earlier claim of five. Sweatin’ Bullets may not be globally popular, but I think it is more riveting than “Miller Time.”

• A jump ball against Lebron James is pretty much just a turnover.

• I can’t stand all the haters that claim that the NBA just consists of a bunch of athletic people without much fundamentals or skills. I also hope none of those people watched this game. They don’t need any more fuel.

• Niether of these teams really wanted to win this game.

• At least the Heat haven’t taken Chris Bosh for granted the past two years or anything…

• Let’s be honest, the Pacers won this game by default. Someone had to. Both teams had trouble executing, both teams missed shots, both teams forgot how to shoot free throws, but the team that played the hardest won.

• The Heat look like a very different team without Chris Bosh. I would expect them to come out and play better in Game 3, but Wade and Lebron looked relatively human and the supporting cast looked abysmal.

• The Pacers can win this series.

Series tied 1-1. Pacers looked like they should have been down 30 in the first half. They looked in complete control in the third quarter and into the fourth. Then the ending was a gross display of futility from teams that couldn’t score or hit a free throw. Ugly stuff, but the Pacers made more plays than their opponents and now get to head to Indiana with home court advantage against a depleted and very beatable Heat team that needs to win a game on the road.

More on this game in the hours and days to come. For now, here is how each guy played individually tonight. Agree? Disagree? Express your thoughts below in the comments or yell at me (@8pts9secs) or Tim (@TimDonahue8p9s) on Twitter.

	David West 41 MIN | 5-13 FG | 6-8 FT | 10 REB | 2 BLK | 16 PTS Had 7 of the Pacers’ 17 pts in the 4th and set the tone for the period by not settling for shots outside of the paint late. Execution wasn’t great there, but Indy’s mentality of attacking the lane was encouraging.
	Danny Granger 5-14 FG | 6 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 4 TO | 11 PTS Gross first half, shooting just 2-of-7 with 2 TOs. But was an effective aggressor after the break, especially in a 3rd quarter during which the Pacers took control and hit 10 of 18 shots. The only play better than his blow by to score on LeBron may have been his monster block on that same, aforementioned King. Fouled out.
	Roy Hibbert 33 MIN | 2-6 FG | 4-6 FT | 11 REB | 3 BLK | 8 PTS Many were predicting him to drop a 20/10 without Bosh on the court. Not so much. He is not someone you run your offense through — for a lot of reasons. He’s much better when he’s playing off of others, hitting the glass, protecting the rim, which he did very well tonight.
	George Hill 35 MIN | 4-9 FG | 6-7 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 5 TO | 15 PTS He missed the free throw late, and only scored a point in the 4th, but without him in the second and third quarter, the Pacers are probably facing a 20-point deficit in the middle of the game.
	Paul George 33 MIN | 4-11 FG | 0-2 FT | 11 REB | 3 STL | 10 PTS By the time Wade spun by him for a dunk, it looked like yet another bad playoff game for George. But he later lived up to his lock-down reputation, forcing both Wade and LeBron into very tough shots again and again. Team defense won this game and Paul’s work allowed everything else to work. His block of LeBron James late in the game is as big of a defensive play as you’ll see in the series. Needs to not miss clutch free throws though. Boo on that.

	Darren Collison 17 MIN | 2-4 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS Not up to his (high) 2012 playoff standards but was still solid. He looked good with that deadly pull up off the PnR.
	Dahntay Jones 8 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS Dahntay has provided some excellent minutes in the past two games and Indiana might turn out to be glad that foul trouble forced him to show how well he can play against Miami at times. Plus, he has a new fan. RT @hpbasketball: I like Dahntay Jones. I’m one of like, five peope, but I do.
	Leandro Barbosa 25 MIN | 4-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 8 PTS I have tripled-checked the box score now and it still says Barbosa only had 8 pts. Felt like a bigger presence for sure. And could have easily taken a jumper on Indy’s last possession after the ORB. But took it to the hole and it ended up getting Roy to the line. Leandro can be all or nothing and he was “nothing” early on. Mark him down for “all” in the second half though.
	Louis Amundson 5 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS Barely remember him playing. He didn’t in the second half.
	Tyler Hansbrough, 7 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 3 PF | 0 PTS Wasn’t hitting his jumper, and really wasn’t able to make any impact with his energy. Vogel opted not to use him in the second half.

As basically everyone on Twitter noted, this frustration foul could have easily gotten Dwyane Wade ejected. He went hard to the rim on the ensuing possession and was (perhaps rightfully … though it was a 50/50 call) miffed at the refs for not calling a foul on Dahntay Jones. Obviously this was an over-reaction. And who knows: Maybe the league will review it and suspend Dwayne for Game 3? #jokes