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The Boston Celtics showed that history and experience does matter when it comes to a winner-take-all Game 7, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 85-75 to earn their third trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in the last five seasons.

The Celtics improved 21-7 all-time in Game 7s, the most such wins in NBA history. Entering the game, the players on Boston’s roster had a combined 27 games and 925 minutes of experience in Game 7s, compared to just three games and 59 minutes for the 76ers.

The 76ers dropped to 6-9 all-time in Game 7s, the most such losses in NBA history. Philadelphia has now lost each of the last 14 best-of-seven series its has played in which it trailed 3-2. That is the longest such streak in NBA history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Rondo Shines Late
Rajon Rondo was a non-factor through the first three quarters, scoring just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting, as the Celtics built a slim three-point lead. But he exploded in the fourth quarter, finishing with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his ninth career triple-double.

He scored all 11 of his fourth-quarter points after Paul Pierce fouled out with 4:16 remaining, personally outscoring (11-7) and outrebounding (3-1) the 76ers during that stretch.

His nine career playoff triple-doubles are tied with Wilt Chamberlain for the fourth-most in NBA history, behind only Magic Johnson (30), Jason Kidd (11), and Larry Bird (10). Rondo also joined Larry Bird as the only Celtics players to record a triple-double in a Game 7.

However, on top of recording a triple-double, Rajon Rondo had seven turnovers tonight. According to Elias, this is the first time a player on the winning side of a Game 7 committed at least seven turnovers.

Celtics Keys to the Game
In the first half, the Celtics used a strong running game to take a eight-point halftime lead. The Celtics outscored the 76ers 15-4 in transition in the first half, hitting 5-of-10 shots on the break compared to just 10-of-30 attempts in their half-court offense.

The Celtics took control of the game in the fourth quarter as they finally found their shooting touch from the perimeter.

Boston missed its first 14 shots from beyond the arc before Ray Allen hit a three-pointer with 9:51 remaining in the game, and ended up making its final three three-point attempts.

The Celtics defense also proved to be a difference-maker in Game 7, as it held the 76ers to just 66 points and 35 percent shooting on 92 plays in the half-court. The Celtics' half-court defense ranks first in points per game (68.5) and points per play (0.79), and second in field goal percentage allowed this postseason.

What’s Next
The Celtics will face the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night. The Celtics won three of the four matchups in the regular season, outscoring the Heat by nearly eight points per game while shooting better than 50 percent from the floor in those contests.

However, Mario Chalmers is the only one of the projected Game 1 starters to have started in all four games. In their final regular-season meeting, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Allen each did not play.

For the Miami Heat, it’s not how they start, but how they finish. After the Heat fell behind 2-1 in the series, Miami used dominant third quarters to win Games 4, 5 and 6 against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Despite trailing at the half in two of those three games, the Heat outscored the Pacers by a combined 35 points in the third quarter en route to a combined final margin of victory of 52 points over those three games.

With the win, the Heat advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight season and fifth time overall. The only other time they made it this far in the playoffs in consecutive seasons was in the 2005 and 2006 playoffs. The Heat’s only NBA title came in that 2006 postseason.

Miami’s clinching win was hardly surprising as the Heat improve to 5-2 in franchise history when leading a series 3-2 and haven’t lost since the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons. The Heat are now 6-0 this postseason and 3-0 in this series when scoring at least 100 points .

The Pacers, on the other hand, have never won a postseason series after trailing 3-2, dropping to 0-9 all-time after tonight’s 105-93 loss. The only other franchise that has lost as many as nine series without winning one in that situation is the Bulls (0-11), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Keys to the Game
The Pacers dominated the interior in the first half outscoring the Heat 34-16 in the paint, with the Pacers starting frontcourt holding a 35-11 advantage over the Heat’s starting frontcourt in the first 24 minutes.

It was a different story in the second half, as the Heat outscored the Pacers 22-12 in the paint after halftime, with their depleted starting frontcourt outscoring their Pacers counterparts 19-16.

The Heat’s pressure defense also was a difference-maker in their second half comeback, as the Heat forced 10 Pacers turnovers and scored 17 points off those turnovers after halftime.

The Big Two
Dwyane Wade was the offensive spark in Game 6, scoring a team-high 41 points for his seventh career 40-point playoff game, which is tied for third-most among active players. The Heat are now 7-0 when Wade scores 40-plus points in the playoffs.

Wade continued his strong play on the interior, going 8-of-11 (73 percent) on shots inside 10 feet. But his biggest improvement in Game 6 came from outside, as he connected on a season-best nine field goals from 10 feet and beyond, and shot 64 percent from that distance.

LeBron James added 28 points in the victory, matching his career average of 28.3 points per game in potential series clinchers. That mark is the fourth-highest all-time, according to Elias, trailing only Michael Jordan, Elgin Baylor, and Jerry West (min. 15 games).

Game 6 between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers (ESPN, 8 ET) will feature several key storylines to watch, including how the Heat replace a suspended Udonis Haslem. Miami will be without one of its best mid-range shooters, as Haslem has made seven mid-range jump shots (outside paint, inside 3-point territory) this series, trailing only LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Haslem has also been a spark off the Heat's bench in the last three games, scoring double figures in each of the last two. In three games Haslem has come off the bench this postseason, Miami averages 25.7 bench points. In seven games Haslem started, the Heat have gotten only 16.1 points from their bench.

With Dexter Pittman also suspended, the best option for the Heat is likely Ronny Turiaf, as his +13 this series is the highest among the Heat's available big men for Game 6. In this series, Turiaf has played only 65 minutes in five games. However, when he's been on the court, the Heat have outscored the Pacers by 13 points. Miami has also limited Indiana to just 33 percent shooting when he's playing. Also available in the frontcourt are Joel Anthony (+7) and Juwan Howard (+5).

Overall, the Heat appear to be in good position to advance. In NBA history, teams that have held a 3-2 lead in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win the series 85.9 percent of the time, including 4-0 in the First Round this postseason. In addition, the Pacers have never come back to win a best-of-seven series after trailing 3-2 (according to Elias they are 0-8 all-time).

James has been a prime reason why the Heat can close out the series tonight. He has recorded at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in back-to-back postseason games, and if he matches those numbers in Game 6, he will become the first player in NBA history to do so in three consecutive postseason games.

History says James will have another strong performance tonight. According to Elias, James has scored at least 20 points in each of the last 11 potential playoff series-clinching games on the road, the second-longest current streak of any player in the league, behind only Kobe Bryant (19).

Meanwhile, Danny Granger (sprained ankle) has said that he will start Game 6. His play will be crucial, as he has been much better at home this series than on the road (averaging over nine points more at home).

What's more, the combination of himself, Paul George, Roy Hibbert, George Hill and David West have outscored opponents by 75 points when on the court together, the highest of any five-man lineup on any team this postseason.

A key for Indiana will be on the boards. The Pacers have outrebounded the Heat 102-76 in their wins in Games 2 and 3, but have lost the battle on the boards in their losses in Games 4 and 5 (outrebounded 96-73). When Hibbert is on the court, the Pacers are +15 rebounding, but with him off are -19.

The Philadelphia 76ers staved off elimination with a 82-75 win over the Boston Celtics, sending the Eastern Conference Semifinals to a decisive Game 7 in Boston on Saturday.

This will be the seventh Game 7 between the 76ers and Celtics, and the first in three decades. Boston has won four of the previous six meetings, but the 76ers won the last such game exactly 30 years ago today.

Philadelphia continued its improbable run through the playoffs as the No. 8 seed with its seventh win in 12 games this postseason.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 76ers seven wins are tied for the second-most in a single postseason by an eight-seed since 1983-84 (the 16-team playoff format began in 1983-84).

The win tonight was hardly a surprise for fans in Philadelphia or Boston. The 76ers improved to 5-0 this postseason following a loss and 5-1 in home playoff games.

With the loss, the Celtics drop to 10-13 overall and 2-11 on the road in close-out games since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo on the team in the 2007-08 season.

Keys to the Game
The 76ers dominated the Celtics around the basket, shooting 63 percent from inside five feet, their best rate so far in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. They also held the Celtics to under 40 percent shooting from inside five feet for the first time since Game 2 of the 2009-2010 NBA Finals against the Lakers.

Contributing to the Celtics woes on the interior was Kevin Garnett's reluctance to go inside. All 20 of Garnett’s field goal attempts in Game 6 were from 10 feet and out, with an average distance of 17 feet.

The 20 attempts from 10-plus feet are four more than Garnett’s previous high with the Celtics. Garnett had 126 games with the Celtics prior to Wednesday with 15 or more field goal attempts. In all of those games, Garnett had at least one shot inside of 10 feet.

Looking Ahead to Game 7
Despite the 76ers win on Wednesday night, they still face long odds to win the series:

• In NBA playoff history, teams that have won Game 5 of a best-of-seven series that was tied at 2-2 (like the Celtics did) have gone on to win the series 83 percent of the time.

• The Celtics were the 47th team to win Game 5 of a best-of-seven series that was tied 2-2 by 15-or-more points. Of the previous 46 teams to do that, 44 went on to win the series, according to Elias.

• And Elias also tells us that the 76ers have lost each of the last 13 best-of-seven series they have played in which they have trailed 3-2, which is the longest such streak in NBA history.

The Boston Celtics visit the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night (ESPN, 8 ET) for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Boston leads the series 3-2 after its Game 5 win on Monday, but the 76ers are 4-0 this postseason in games immediately following a loss.

In NBA history, teams that have held a 3-2 lead in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win the series 85.9 percent of the time (213-35). Teams with 3-2 series leads went 4-0 in the first round this postseason.

Since the new "Big 3" era began in the 2007-08 season, the Celtics are 2-10 in road games with a chance to close out a series. The rest of the NBA is 28-28 in such games.

Key Players
Kevin Garnett has increased his offensive production this postseason. He’s averaging a double-double with 19.3 PPG and 10.5 RPG, up from his regular season numbers of 15.8 PPG and 8.2 RPG. In addition, he’s shooting 52.1 percent from the floor in the playoffs, compared to 50.3 percent in the regular season.

The Celtics have outscored opponents by 136 points in the 403 minutes Garnett has been on the floor this postseason. Boston has been outscored by 85 points in the 130 minutes he’s been off the court.

Andre Iguodala is shooting 52.6 percent (10-for-19) from 3-point range but is shooting only 45.5 percent (10-for-22) from the free throw line in this series.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, since the NBA instituted the 3-point shot in 1979-80, only two players have shot for a higher percentage from 3-point range than from the free throw line in a single playoff series (min. 15 attempts in each category). Tony Parker in the first round in 2004 (68.8 3-point pct; 68.2 free throw pct) and Rasheed Wallace in the first round in 2006 (54.2 3-point pct; 43.8 free throw pct).

Stats to Know
Boston has yet to allow 100 points this postseason. The Celtics are one of three teams that haven’t allowed 100 points in a single game this postseason, joining the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.

Since scoring 109 points against the Chicago Bulls in Game 2 of the first round, Philadelphia hasn’t scored more than 92 points in any of the nine games since. That is the longest single postseason streak of scoring fewer than 93 points since the Detroit Pistons (11 games) in 2006.

You might be able to beat the Miami Heat at home once, but forget about doing it twice in a row.

In the regular season, they lost five home games. They not only won each of their next home contests, they did it in blowout fashion. The wins came by an average of 19.4 points. That included a 35-point win over the Indiana Pacers in January, two days after losing at home to the Atlanta Hawks.

That trend continued on Tuesday, albeit in a one-game playoff sample. Their 32-point win against the Pacers made them 6-0 in their next home game after a home loss with an average victory of 21.5 points.

The 32-point loss is also the worst loss in Pacers playoff history.

The path to victory in this game was their blistering shooting -- a playoff franchise-record 61.4 percent from the field. Their 115 points is tied for the second-most in franchise playoff history and the 32-point win is third-largest in franchise playoff history.

But it was the work inside from the Heat's star duo that continued the Heat's tone from last game.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade outscored the Pacers inside five feet for the second straight game. James made all six of his attempts from this range in Game 5 and Wade went 3-for-5. The Pacers scored 16 points inside five feet in Game 5, their fewest this postseason.

Overall, James and Wade (58 points) outscored the entire Pacers starting lineup (45 points).

James' 30-point game was the 45th of his postseason career. That's as many as Dirk Nowitzki has and trails only Kobe Bryant's 85 among active players.

It also helped that Shane Battier scored more points in the first seven minutes of the game than he had over the first four games of this series combined.

The other boost came from transition scoring as the Heat scored a postseason-high 29 transition points. They are 6-0 this postseason when scoring at least 14 transition points. In each of the Heat’s three losses this postseason, they were outscored in transition.

Starting center Roy Hibbert has been in foul trouble in both games that the Indiana Pacers have lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
In the second half of Game 1, Hibbert sat for 11 minutes, 25 seconds spanning the third and fourth quarters, which is one reason the Heat outscored the Pacers by 14 points on field goals less than five feet from the basket in the second half.

Overall in Game 1, the Heat outscored the Pacers, 40-22, inside of five feet from the hoop.

In Game 4, the Pacers were minus-8 with Hibbert off the court, and minus-5 in rebound differential. With Hibbert on the bench from the 5:03 left in the third quarter until 6:11 left in the fourth, the Heat made seven field goals -- including six within 12 feet of the basket (three each by Dwyane Wade and LeBron James).

Even without an inside scorer, the Heat have attacked the basket when Hibbert has been out of the game.

During the regular season, the Heat shot 62.3 percent on field goals less than 5 feet from the basket, which ranked fourth in the NBA (league average was 59.5).

With Hibbert on the floor, Miami’s field goal percentage inside of 5 feet drops to 51.7; however, with Hibbert on the bench, that percentage shoots up to 64.6. What’s more, the Heat attempt more than 42 percent of their shots inside of 5 feet when Hibbert is off the court, compared to less than 30 percent when Hibbert is playing.

After a couple of scares in the Western Conference Semifinals, the Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers, 4-1.

It’s the Thunder’s fifth straight home playoff win, which is their longest such streak since winning six straight in 2002.

Kevin Durant finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds for his sixth 25-10 playoff game over the last two seasons. That’s tied with Zach Randolph for most in the NBA during that stretch.

For the series, Durant averaged 26.8 points and Russell Westbrook, who scored 28 points in Game 5, averaged 25.6 in the series. It's just the fourth time teammates each averaged at least 25 points in a playoff series against the Lakers. Durant and Westbrook, however, are the only pair to lead their team to a series victory.

A big key to the Thunder’s success was that they outscored the Lakers by 13.8 transition points per game during the series, including by 17 in Game Five.

Westbrook (6.4), Durant (6.4) and James Harden (5.6) all averaged over five transition points per game in the series.

Despite the tight defense, Kobe Bryant did his best to keep the Lakers in Game Five.

His 42 points gave Bryant his 13th, 40-point playoff game, tying Wilt Chamberlain for fourth most all-time. It was the most points Bryant has ever scored in a playoff game when facing elimination.

Bryant accounted for 44.0 percent of the Lakers field goal attempts, but accounted for 52.9 percent of their made field goals in Game Five.

He did struggle however when guarded by Durant, especially in the fourth quarter this series.

Bryant shot 1-for-10 in that situation whereas he shot 41.7 percent (10-24) against all other Thunder defenders. Only two of Bryant's 34 fourth-quarter attempts were inside of five feet and both of those came against Harden.

This is the fifth time the Lakers were down 3-1 with Bryant and they have gone on to lose the series each time.

The Lakers loss means there are seven different teams who have more playoff wins than them over the last two seasons. That includes the Memphis Grizzlies and their longtime rival Boston Celtics.

The Thunder, meanwhile, advance to the Conference Finals for the second-straight season.

The only other time the franchise advanced to the Conference Finals in consecutive seasons was when they made three straight appearance from 1978-1980 as the Seattle SuperSonics.

Statistical support for this story from NBA.com.

For a player who had never before scored 20 points in a playoff game, Brandon Bass announced his presence loudly in Game 5 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Bass finished with 27 points - 18 of them in the third quarter - in a performance that few could have predicted.

In fact, if his teammates say they've seen this before, they're lying. Entering the night, Bass had not been the Celtics' outright leading scorer in any of their 76 team games this season.

The Celtics had seven different leading scorers in a game this season, including Sasha Pavlovic and Jermaine O'Neal, but Bass wasn't one of them until this game.

He hardly needed any help in the third quarter, when he outscored the 76ers by himself, 18-16. Bass went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the quarter and a near-perfect 6-for-7 from the field.

His 18 points in the quarter were the most he's ever scored in a quarter - regular season or postseason. His previous high was 16 points in the 2nd quarter against the Kings on Feb. 21, 2009.

The performance took some of the scoring load off the Celtics usual cast, and it came at a fortunate time as Ray Allen shot just 2-for-7 and Paul Pierce shot 3-for-7. The last time a Celtics player outside of their core four scored 25 points in a playoff game was when Eddie House went for 31 against the Magic in 2009.

Aside from Bass, the game shifted in the second half when the Celtics defense closed off the lane.

In the first half, the 76ers scored 24 points in the area within five feet of the hoop. It marked their most points within five feet in any half this postseason.

But in the second half the 76ers managed just 10 such points. They stopped going inside as much too - 31.4 percent of their field goal attempts came within five feet of the hoop. In the first half, it was 43 percent.

The win continued a trend of resiliency this postseason for the Boston Celtics - they're a perfect 4-0 this season in games following a loss. That trend might be a lot more comforting were it not matched by the 76ers, who are also 4-0 following a loss.

It will likely be argued that Stan Van Gundy is a product of his star players. After all, he has only coached teams that included either Dwyane Wade or Dwight Howard. And Howard especially anchored a defensive unit that, in the Van Gundy era, has certainly been one of the best in the league.

For four straight seasons, the Magic ranked in the top five in defensive efficiency -- including first in 2008-09 and second the following season.

Over the five season span that Van Gundy coached the team, the Magic ranked second-best in the league in defensive efficiency, second in defensive field goal percentage and first in points in the paint allowed.

All because of Dwight Howard, you say? Consider that in Howard's three seasons before Van Gundy became head coach, the team ranked 15th, 11th and seventh in those categories.

That could be a product of Howard simply coming into his own and developing into a dominant force as an NBA player. But though Howard reportedly wanted the coach out of town, Van Gundy leaves with several impressive items on his coaching resume.

He reached the playoffs in all five seasons with the Magic and racked up 31 playoff wins. That's more playoff wins than the franchise had in its previous 18 seasons of existence.

Since Van Gundy took over, he led the Magic to a better regular-season record than all but three teams. The only franchsies who were better are the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs.

He's not likely to get mentioned in the same breath as Phil Jackson when discussing the greatest NBA coaches, but there is something big that Stan Van Gundy and Jackson have in common: neither coached a losing season.

Jackson coached 20 seasons and never had a losing record, while Van Gundy's total was just eight seasons. Five with the Magic, three with the Heat. And yes, that includes the year with the Heat where Van Gundy was 11-10 before being replaced with Pat Riley.

But Elias tells us that Van Gundy is in rare company. Along with Jackson, the only others who coached at least eight seasons and never had a losing record are former Knicks coach Joe Lapchick and former 76ers coach Billy Cunningham. Both are in the Hall of Fame.

And Van Gundy's .641 career winning percentage puts him in another elevated group: coaches with a winning percentage that high who have coached at least 500 games. Counting Van Gundy, that group is only six members and includes Jackson, Gregg Popovich and Red Auerbach.

But since the 2009 NBA Finals appearance, Van Gundy's Magic teams just haven't had similar success. They had 13 playoff wins that year, beating LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers on their way to the Finals.

Since then, they've tallied just two series wins and been bounced by the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers in consecutive years.

There have been more than 3,000 postseason games in NBA history, but only once has a player scored 40 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and recorded 9 assists in a game. At least until Sunday.

The Elias Sports Bureau tells us LeBron James joined Elgin Baylor as the only players in postseason history to register 40 points, 18 rebounds and 9 assists in a game as the Miami Heat evened their series with the Indiana Pacers at two games apiece. Baylor posted his 40-18-9 game in a Los Angeles Lakers win over the Detroit Pistons in Game 1 of the 1961 Western Division Semifinals.

Betweens points scored and assists, James had a role in 62 of the Heat’s 101 points Sunday. That’s the highest such percentage (61.4) for James in any game this season.

But Miami’s performance was far from a one-man show, as Dwyane Wade scored 30 points one game after being held to five points on two-for-13 shooting. James and Wade became just the fifth set of teammates to have a 40-point game and 30-point game in a road playoff win in the last 20 years.

After trailing by eight at halftime, James and Wade combined to outscore the Pacers 43-39 over the final two quarters. And after much was made of the Pacers rebounding edge in Game 3, it’s worth noting that James and Wade also had more rebounds than Indiana in the second half in Game 4 (19-18).

The Heat’s big two were dominant at the rim, outscoring the entire Pacers team on shots inside of five feet (32-26). Wade made six of his seven shots inside five feet after attempting a season-low one shot from that distance in Game 3.

Indiana’s eight-point lead through two quarters was the largest blown halftime lead for the Pacers this season. They fell to 15-1 when leading by eight or more entering the second half in 2011-12.

The two teams will meet in the all-important Game 5 Tuesday night in Miami. In NBA history, teams to win Game 5 of a series tied at two go on to win the series 83 percent of the time.

The San Antonio Spurs extended their win streak to 17 games (dating to the regular season) in historic fashion.

In Game 3, San Antonio trailed by 22 points after the first quarter, 33-11. That deficit after the first 12 minutes of play is the largest overcome to win a playoff game in NBA history. The previous record was held by the 2008 Celtics, who trailed by 21 against the Los Angeles Lakers after the first quarter (35-14) in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Like Saturday, that game was also at the Staples Center.

The Spurs trailed by 24 points in the second quarter (40-16), making this the second-largest comeback win this postseason. In the first round, the Clippers erased a 27-point deficit in the third quarter of Game 1 against the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Spurs comeback was highlighted by a 24-0 run in the third quarter. The Spurs made 10-of-15 field goals and did not commit a turnover in turning a 57-45 deficit into a 69-57 lead. The Clippers went 0-for-12 from the field during the Spurs run and were scoreless for eight minutes.

Four different Spurs scored during the run, led by nine from Tim Duncan. On the other side, five different Clippers missed at least one field goal attempt, including four by Blake Griffin.

The Clippers jumped out to a 24-point lead less than 15 minutes into the game, shooting better than 65 percent from the field (17-26). But over the final 33:17, the Clippers made just 20 field goals and missed nine of 14 free throws.

Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have played 52 minutes together in the series, and the Spurs have outscored the Clippers by 44 points.

Duncan finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, the 134th double-double of his postseason career. Duncan now is three shy of Bill Russell for fourth on the all-time list.

The Spurs now are 7-0 this postseason, the first time in franchise history they have won their first seven games to start a postseason.

The lone bright spot for the Clippers was Griffin, who scored 20 of his game-high 28 points in the first half. He’s only the second different player to score at least 20 points in the first half of a playoff game in franchise history. Elton Brand did it twice during the 2006 postseason against the Phoenix Suns.

The longer the Indiana Pacers can keep their starting five on the court, the better chance they have to eliminate the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Indiana’s starting five of Paul George, Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, George Hill and David West has been the most successful five-man lineup in this year’s postseason. It has a better plus-minus, has scored more points and has a better rebounding margin than any other five-man lineup in the playoffs.

In eight postseason games, Indiana's starting five has outscored its opponents by 79 points and outrebounded them by 68.

During the regular season, George, Granger, Hibbert, Hill and West started just eight games together, and the Pacers were 7-1 in those games. They played just 229 minutes together and outscored their opponents by 72 points.

In the playoffs, they’ve already played together for 176 minutes, and the formula continues to be successful.

This postseason, Indiana’s starting five:

• Has more than double the second-chance points (70) of any other five-man lineup. (Second are the Lakers and Magic with 30.)

• Leads all lineups in points in the paint (152) and points off turnovers (58).

• Has outscored its opponents by 56 points in the paint (152-96), has 30 more second-chance points (74-44) and 18 more fast-break points (42-24).

When George, Granger, Hibbert, Hill and West were on the court in Game 3, they outscored the Heat 68-40.

The starting five shot 52 percent from the field (including 6-of-10 on 3-pointers) and outrebounded the Heat 32-15. That lineup held the Heat to 33 percent shooting from the field and 1-of-10 on 3-point attempts. They also outscored the Heat 13-0 on second-chance points.

Every other Pacers lineup was outscored by nine.

Since the 2008 playoffs, only four lineups have finished with a plus-minus that’s been as good as Indiana’s +79. Three of those teams reached the NBA Finals and two won the NBA championship, including the Mavericks’ lineup last year of Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry.

Statistical support for this story from NBA.com.

After they split two games in Florida, the Indiana Pacers returned home and handed the Miami Heat a 19-point loss Thursday night to take the series lead.

The Pacers lost their first playoff game at home, against the Orlando Magic, but have won their past three home games by a combined 52 points. All three of the victories have been by at least 15 points.

The key Thursday was Roy Hibbert, who finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds, both of which are career playoff highs. With Hibbert on the floor this series, the Pacers have outscored the Heat by 30 points; when he has been on the bench, they’ve been outscored by 17.

After not getting any support for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Game 2, the Heat’s leading scorer Thursday night was Mario Chalmers. It was the first time in 29 playoff games over the past two seasons that the leading scorer wasn’t one of the Big Three.

The Heat needed those points to offset the lack of production by Wade, who scored just five points. It was the second-lowest scoring playoff game in his career and the first time he scored fewer than 10 points since the first postseason series of his career, in 2004.

Part of the reason for his lack of scoring was his inability to get inside. Eleven of his 13 shots were from at least 10 feet out. His two field goal attempts from inside 10 feet were his fewest this season -- regular season plus playoffs -- and second fewest of his postseason career.

Wade didn’t have any more success filling the stat sheet elsewhere. Among players on the court for at least 35 minutes, he was the first since Eric Snow in 2001 to record no more than five points, rebounds or assists while turning the ball over at least five times.

The Heat have struggled to get out in transition against the Pacers. They scored 10 transition points on 39 percent shooting in Game 3 and have been outscored in transition over the first three games of the series.

Against the New York Knicks in the first round, the Heat shot 59 percent in transition and scored 39 more points than they allowed.

The Heat are even having trouble on open jumpers. In unguarded, catch-and-shoot situations, Miami made just two of 12 shots in Game 3. Against the Knicks, the Heat made 42 percent of these shots.

This is the eighth time LeBron’s team has lost back-to-back games in a playoff series. If the past is any indication, it doesn’t look good for the Heat. James’ team lost six of those previous seven series, including the past five.

Statistical support for this story from NBA.com.

In his playoff career, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant is 7-for-27 on game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final 24 seconds of the fourth quarter and overtime. That’s a field goal percentage of 25.9, which is below the league average of 27.2 percent, and pales in comparison to his teammates over that span. Other Lakers are 9-for-21 (42.9 percent) on such shots, even after Steve Blake's miss in Game 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In his 16-year career (including postseason), Bryant has made 71 of 226 field goal attempts (31.4 percent) in one-possession games in the last 24 seconds of the fourth quarter and overtime. That ranks 57th among 114 players who have at least 30 attempts in those situations over that span. The league average is 31.6 percent on such shots over that span.

So, should Blake have taken the last shot?

According to Synergy, Blake was 40-for-88 (45.5 percent) on unguarded catch-and-shoots during the regular season. In the playoffs, Blake was 12-for-23 before his final shot. (In Game 2, he was 1-for-4 on those shots before the last attempt.)

According to NBA.com, Blake was 29-of-74 (39.2 percent) on corner 3's this season, including the playoffs, including 16-for-35 on 3-pointers from the right corner. (Both numbers include the final miss in Game 2.)

Blake now is 12-for-24 in the playoffs on unguarded catch-and-shoots. The league average in this year's playoffs on these shots is 38.9 percent. Blake’s 50.0 shooting percentage on unguarded catch-and-shoot attempts is tied for seventh among 43 players with at least 10 such field goal attempts this postseason.

During the regular season, the league average on unguarded catch-and-shoots was 40.6 percent, so Blake was above average in the regular season as well.

No matter how you look at it, it was a pretty good percentage shot considering the situation.

-- Statistical support for this story provided by NBA.com. Alok Pattani contributed to this post.