The NBA playoff standings has the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers tied 1-1 in the eastern conference finals after winning Game 2 and it came on the strength of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who had a fantastic fourth quarter to even up the series and now things return to Miami for Game 3.
The Heat won the game 87-83 and now have some momentum heading back home, as they were able to get a split in Indiana, a place where they had lost five straight games to the Pacers. James was fantastic down the stretch and Wade was his right hand man, putting in a breakaway layup that James missed and scoring 23 points in the contest. James had 10 points coming into the fourth quarter and he had 12 in the frame as the Heat pulled ahead and stayed ahead for the win.
The Heat had a 12-2 run at the end and the team saw James score six straight points during that stretch and they were able to even the series heading back to Miami. Lance Stephenson was excellent for the Pacers and he seemingly could not miss a shot early, but he was held back in the fourth quarter. Stephenson ended up with 25 points, while Paul George had the worst shooting night of his career in the first and ended up with just 14 points.
The Heat were dominant on defense and they made important adjustments after the Game 1 loss and now they have the chance to take a 2-1 lead in the series in the next game. Miami has won 11 games after losing in the playoffs and they continued that on Tuesday night and now they have not trailed 2-0 in a series since two years ago. Miami needed to win this game and they got the victory they were looking for an outscored the Pacers by five in the fourth quarter and now they have a good chance at winning the series. James and Wade will have to continue playing well, while the contributions of Norris Cole and Chris Andersen were integral to the victory on Tuesday.
