MIAMI -- The questions seemed to smack Paul George with the force of one of the many hard fouls delivered throughout this rugged second-round playoff series between the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat.

Just how did the Pacers go from prosperity to panic?

From being in control of this series, ahead 2-1 a few days ago and pounding their collective chests, to retreating to Indiana a battered team facing the brink of playoff elimination?

“We struggled, they jumped on us,” George said after the Heat's 115-83 Game 5 victory gave Miami a 3-2 series lead. “It happens. This is going to be a battle. It's not going to be easy. The same way we won two games and talked about us closing them, they got two wins and now [there's] talk about them closing us.”

That's an understatement.

A few days ago, Miami was the team hampered by injuries. Chris Bosh was out with a strained abdomen sustained in Game 1, and Dwyane Wade turned in the worst playoff performance of his career in a Game 3 loss a day after he had his troublesome left knee drained of excess fluid.

Now the Pacers are the team limping into games after Tuesday's slugfest. Indiana was forced to finish the game without two of its best players, as Danny Granger sprained his left ankle and David West sprained his left knee in the third quarter. Both players will be re-evaluated in Indianapolis on Wednesday and are considered “day-to-day” by the team. West, Indiana's second-leading rebounder, said he expected to play Thursday and anticipated Granger, the Pacers' leading scorer on the season, to also be available.

All of a sudden, a Pacers team that prided itself on physical play and never backing down is the squad wondering just what hit it Tuesday amid a slew of blows that could warrant disciplinary action from the league before Game 6. The Heat and Pacers traded message-sending hard fouls throughout a game that ended with seldom-used Miami center Dexter Pittman extending an elbow and lunging violently into Indiana forward Lance Stephenson with 19 seconds left.

It was the third and final flagrant foul of the game, a shot that knocked both players off their feet and eventually sent Stephenson into the Heat's X-ray room with what turned out to be a bruised collarbone.

“There's no room for dirty play in our game, period,” LeBron James said. “We're all one group. At the end of the day, you don't want to see any player injured.”

But James also acknowledged that the rough play between the teams has been fueled by excessive tough talk between the games.

It started before Game 1, when Pacers coach Frank Vogel was fined $15,000 for his comments, including his accusation that the Heat flopped the most among NBA teams. Granger and West were among the Indiana players who then repeatedly vowed to stand up to the Heat under any circumstances. After Tuesday's shootaround, hours before Game 5, James said the Pacers' tough talk was “stupid.”

Through five games, the Pacers and Heat have combined for 234 personal fouls, including four flagrant-1 penalties in addition to five individual technical fouls.

“I go into a game with a physical mindset anyway,” James said. “Any time I drive into the lane, I feel like I'm going to get hit hard. So I brace myself. I think it's both; the [trash] talk has fueled physical play and the physical play has fueled the talk. We knew coming into this series it was going to be a physical series.”

The Pacers deny that they're now seeing the Heat beat them at their own game. They also refuse to believe Miami is now in control heading into the first elimination game. But even Pacers president Larry Bird is questioning his team's toughness in light of Tuesday's performance.

“I can't believe my team went soft,” Bird told the Indianapolis Star after the game. “S-O-F-T. I'm disappointed. I never thought it would have happened.”

After the last two games, Indiana appears to be reeling while Miami has regrouped after regaining its stride. The advantage in depth the Pacers seemed to have at the start of the series is now being countered by the Heat's role players finally stepping up with confidence. After season-long slumps and sluggish starts to the series, Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem provided boosts in the past two games, while Mario Chalmers has neutralized Indiana point guards George Hill and Darren Collison in Games 3, 4 and 5.

“What we've talked about is 'Help us win,'” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of his message to Miami's role players in support of James and Wade. “It doesn't necessarily have to be scoring. We have a lot of guys that can impact winning even if that ball isn't going in [the basket].”

The Heat are now one victory away from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the second consecutive season. The Pacers need a win to force Game 7 in Miami on Saturday. Just a few days ago, Miami was the team soul-searching and struggling, while the Pacers were storming into a commanding position. Now the roles have changed over two games.

But Indiana insists it'll respond Thursday.

“We're going to go down fighting, and keep playing the way we're playing,” Pacers center Roy Hibbert said. “That's our identity. And if they want to hit us with cheap shots, that's fine. It's two aggressive teams playing. We let them get going and they kept on. We have to make some sort of adjustment, because I don't want to go fishing right now.”

In another installment of the Heat Index's 3-on-3 series, our writers give their takes on the storylines before the Heat host the Pacers in Game 5 of the East semifinals.

1. Fact or Fiction: Rest of the series will be more like Game 4 than Game 3.

Tom Haberstroh: Fiction. I'm not sure the Heat can duplicate Udonis Haslem's hot shooting display that rescued the supporting cast in Game 4. Also, I'm no doctor but I'm not completely sold that Dwyane Wade's knee will respond positively after Sunday. Oh, and LeBron going 40-18-9? Probably not happening again. Expect the Pacers to be more prepared.

Michael Wallace: Fact. Not necessarily in terms of the outcome, but more along the lines of how closely the game was played throughout. I still don't feel comfortable predicting who will win this series. But I'd bank on close games with vicious momentum swings before I'd anticipate another 20-point blowout.

Brian Windhorst: Fiction. If ever there was an outlier, it was Game 4. It is unrealistic to expect that kind of production from Wade and James every night. Also, the Pacers got very little from David West and Roy Hibbert. Probably the most important thing for the Heat to replicate is getting a contribution from Haslem.

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2. Fact or Fiction: Wade's knee is more worrisome than LeBron's fatigue.

Haberstroh: Fiction. I'd say it's equally concerning. The minutes and responsibilities are piling up for LeBron, even with Shane Battier as a much-needed battery in tow. The Chris Bosh injury ruined whatever hopes that LeBron would stay fresh in the playoff run. He admitted he was gassed in Game 4. Even though Wade had his knee drained, I wonder how much longer LeBron can stay in fifth gear.

Wallace: Fact. Wade won't discuss the knee, but it certainly is an issue that could affect the outcome of the series if the problems flare up again. No one knows if he will need to have it drained again. What we do know is he overcame physical limitations and emotional outbursts to bounce back from one of his worst postseason performances with one of his best. Meanwhile, LeBron has been a beast all season. He'll play through fatigue.

Windhorst: Fact. It may not be a serious injury; Wade can still play, after all. But the past week showed how much the knee can effect Wade's play. As he said, he feels differently on different days. Without Bosh, the Heat badly need Wade's knee to stay healthy.

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3. Fact or Fiction: Frank Vogel has won the chess match so far.

Haberstroh: Fiction. After starting Dexter Pittman in Game 3, Erik Spoelstra got showered with nation-wide blame, but I don't even think that was all that egregious. That disaster lasted all but three minutes. Vogel has been impressive with his defensive strategies, but the Pacers have been absolutely dreadful when he goes to the bench. Making Hibbert and West ride the pine during crucial situations in Game 4 is on Vogel.

Wallace: Fiction. Both coaches still have their power pieces on the table and in play. Tonight's outcome will determine the first real "check" position of this series, when one team pushes the other to the brink of elimination. Spoelstra's Game 3 adjustments were awful. But Vogel also produced a major head-scratcher in Game 4 when he chose to leave Hibbert and West on the bench with four fouls a bit too long.

Windhorst: Fiction. Vogel has made some excellent moves and assembled a game plan that's been very effective. But he made some questionable moves in Games 1 and 4. On Sunday, it seemed like he got stuck watching the show instead of making adjustments when the Pacers started getting run over.

MIAMI -- Whatever happened to "pace-and-space"?

That's the rhyming catchphrase Heat coach Erik Spoelstra utilized to dub the high-speed, low-control offense he developed in the offseason. Inspired by a lockout visit with Oregon football coach Chip Kelly, Spoelstra implemented the fast-paced offense to leverage the athletic talents of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, and to emphasize floor spacing with sharpshooters.

The hands-off approach worked for a while. But after a blazing start to the season, the Heat haven't been running teams out of the gym; instead, they have utilized a slower, more methodical brand of basketball. Against Indiana's stifling half-court defense anchored by 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert, the pace-and-space approach could theoretically be Miami's greatest weapon and a potential game-changer in a series tied at 2-2.

So six months after its debut, is Spoelstra still emphasizing pace-and-space?

"Yeah, he’s still preaching it," Wade said at Heat's practice on Monday. "But we have to get stops."

James echoed Wade's sentiment about the importance of defense.

“That’s what it’s about," James said. "When we get stops, we have to attack. We do some of our best basketball when we get a defensive stop and we get out on a run."

A bullet is useless without a trigger. In the absence of turnovers and defensive rebounds, any team will struggle to sprint like the Heat did earlier in the season. The team opened the season as the fastest-paced team in the league over the first 10 games in the season, but over the final 10 games the Heat ranked 25th in possessions per game. Moreover, they averaged the second-most fast-break points in the opening weeks, but ranked dead last in fast-break points in the final 10 games of the regular season.

So is Duckball dead, or is it due for a rude awakening?

The playoffs certainly haven't helped. Postseason basketball typically slows down as the value of each possession becomes more important, but the Heat pressed on the gas in their Game 4 win in Indiana. The Heat doubled their fast-break points from Game 3 to Game 4 (eight points to 16) and reached triple-digit scoring after mustering just 75 points in each of the previous two games.

The key to the spike? Believing that the best offense is a good defense.

"When we defend or rebound the ball, we’ll get opportunities in the open court," Spoelstra said. "That could make a big difference in a series like this. When LeBron gets those defensive rebounds like [he did in Game 4], that’s when we’re at our fastest. He was relentless."

James tallied a season-high 18 rebounds in Game 4, using many of those to propel the Heat's open-floor attack. That's the beauty of having a top rebounder doubling as a point guard; no outlet pass is necessary to ignite a break. During Wade and James' barrage of 38 consecutive points, the Heat throttled the Pacers in chaotic spurts, thriving on transition plays and improvisation.

The "space" part of the equation had been missing too. The Heat weren't able to capitalize on floor-spacing shooters in the first three games; they shot a pathetic 12 percent on 3-pointers in the series before Sunday. But shooting 41.7 percent from downtown in Game 4 helped to free up the driving lanes for James and Wade. The Heat can't get what they want unless Shane Battier and Mike Miller fulfill their floor-spacing duties.

But perhaps most importantly, the pace-and-space attack neutralizes the lumbering Hibbert as a paint protector.

"They obviously have a big guy that sits in the middle a lot," Wade said. "Hibbert is very good defensively, especially protecting the rim, so we have to do a better job of getting points in the paint in transition, not just in the half court. We have to get him in the move a little bit so he’s not just sitting, waiting for us to come down into the paint."

Attacking Hibbert on the move also achieves the Heat's second priority: getting the Pacers' big man in foul trouble. It's no coincidence that the Heat outscored the Pacers by a decisive eight points with Hibbert sitting on the bench with foul trouble. He and David West finished with five fouls apiece.

But it's not as simple as flipping the switch and suddenly deciding to play high-octane basketball. Playing at that speed is exhausting, too, especially after a lockout-shortened season. At Monday's practice, James was asked whether he had any energy after his monster Game 4, and he responded with an exasperated grin.

"Don't have any," James said on Monday. "It’s definitely going to be a recovery and mental day for me to prepare for [Tuesday].”

That's the obvious downside, of course. Throughout the season, this was the overarching question with the Heat: Will they have enough energy in the postseason to play the same kind of pace-and-space brand of basketball that they beat teams with early on?

Wade wasn't so sure.

"Obviously, it’s different now than the regular season," Wade said. "Possessions matter a lot more now. There might be sometimes where they might miss and you might not run. Early on in the regular season, we were just going. It was just ‘pace-and-space’ and we were attacking.

"But that was a long time ago. We’ve got a lot of miles on our legs now from that."

James wouldn't say that fatigue was going to slow the Heat down, but it might make it harder to assert their athleticism.

“Fatigue is part of the playoffs," James said. "I’m just trying to catch my second and third wind out there. You have to just push through it.”

It's no secret that the Heat will look to run at every opportunity, and Pacers coach Frank Vogel has stressed the importance of keeping the fast-break triggers to a minimum. Since Chris Bosh is sidelined with an abdominal strain, the Heat might have no choice but to go all-in on James and Wade's athleticism, and swarm the Pacers as Miami did earlier in the regular season.

“It's that attack mentality," Spoelstra said. "We’re trying to figure ourselves out on the fly with Bosh out. It’s changed the dynamic of the team.”

With the series in the balance ahead of Game 5, channeling an excellent pace-and-space effort might be the dynamic the Heat need to tilt the series in their favor.

“They know what they need and we know what we need," Wade said. "Two sides collide and we’ll see who comes out.”

MIAMI -- Coming off a win in Indiana in Game 4 to tie the series, the Heat were in a good mood at practice on Monday.

With topics ranging from LeBron James' reading material to James and Dwyane Wade's big 70-point night to the Lance Stephenson-Juwan Howard confrontation to Udonis Haslem's bloody eye to James Jones' valiant dunk attempt over the Pacers defense ... it's time to go bullets-style.

• On LeBron and Wade's historic night
  
  James and Wade found out about their 38 consecutive points after the game and didn't hear about the historical precedence of James' 40-18-9 performance until they got on the plane.
  
  When asked whether James took some extra time to take in the historical aspect of his Game 4, James just shook his head.
  
  "No, not really," James said.
  
  Wade later elaborated.
  
  “Last night when we heard about [the statistical feat], we were like, ‘Wow,' and then we moved on," Wade said. "We don’t have time to pat ourselves on the back with our opponent [on Tuesday]."
  
  Wade was mired in an awful shooting slump before reeling off eleven straight buckets on Sunday. It's hard to explain a turnaround like that, but Wade gave it his best shot.
  
  “Obviously, the rim gets bigger and bigger," Wade said. "It’s something that’s indescribable. It’s something you really want to understand because at times the rim seems so small, it looks like a Cheerio. You can’t get the ball in it at all. And then other times it opens up like the ocean.”
  
  Wade wasn't done making analogies. He likened LeBron's night to a video-game NBA 2K. And then to Dirk Nowitzki.
  
  "It was video-game-like. You’d get that on [the video game NBA] 2K," Wade said.
  
  "I was watching the game last night on the plane and I turned to Ronny Turiaf who was sitting behind me and I said, ‘You know what, I’ve played in the league for nine years and I’ve seen some amazing things, but I’ve never really played with a guy that I’m amazed so often by the things he does. I’m used to kind of not being the one who is in awe of things. Sometimes he does things and I’m like, ‘How did just he do that?’"
  
  Wade went on.
  
  “I think there was one shot he made in the game, it was kinda like the Dirk shot where he went and drove and fired and faded back off the wrong leg and banked it in. I looked back at Shane Battier and I was like, ‘What? How did he do that?’ I’ve seen a lot, but the performance he put on last night was a typical MVP kind of performance.”
• On LeBron reading "The Hunger Games"
  
  Full disclosure: I haven’t read “The Hunger Games” yet. Having not read the book, I couldn't get into detail with LeBron about his latest read by Suzanne Collins that is out in theaters. LeBron has been a bit of a bookworm throughout the playoffs, having just finished up basketball legend Jerry West’s autobiography titled “West by West.”
  
  You might have noticed he certainly isn’t shy about his reading hobby around the media and cameras either.
  
  “I’ve been doing it since the playoffs started,” LeBron said Monday. “It just puts me in a different mindset. Honestly, before the game I don’t even think about what’s going to happen throughout the game. I’ve just been reading and it’s been able to calm me down. It’s been great.”
  
  His early review of "The Hunger Games"?
  
  “It’s good, it’s really good,” LeBron said. “I just started reading it.”
• On James Jones' dunk attempt
  
  If you're like me, you watched James Jones' dunk attempt at least 30 times. If not, here's footage in GIF form brought to you by the folks at SB Nation.
  
  The team watched the play on the plane ride back from Indiana last night and the team got a good laugh. When asked about it at practice, Wade squealed with laughter.
  
  “That was by far the funniest thing that happened all year," Wade said. "It showed a great deal of aggression and toughness … but he wasn’t even close. That was the funniest moment on the plane when he watched it on tape.”
  
  Jones got a good laugh out of it, too. He also thought he might have gotten fouled.
  
  “I saw the lane get open, so I tried to attack it. I was hoping the referee would make the right call," Jones said.
  
  "Since I’ve been here, I’ve been predominantly a spot-up shooter, but I saw an opportunity to attack the lane, it didn’t go as I had planned, but it’s just me trying to be aggressive. In the grand scheme of things, it was something that gave some comic relief knowing we had to come in here today and prepare for a tough Game 5.”
  
  And then Jones got serious for a moment talking about trying to prove his talents to his fellow teammates.
  
  “You try as much as possible to remind yourself and your teammates that you’re still a player and that you can do certain things even if it’s not what the team calls for you to do on a nightly basis.”
• On the Lance Stephenson-Juwan Howard scuffle
  
  Wade insists he had no idea about Juwan Howard approaching Lance Stephenson during the pregame warmups until after the game (watch and read about it here).
  
  Howard and Wade grew up in the Chicago area so Wade felt some hometown pride when he found out that Howard, who hasn't played more than a few seconds in the playoffs, stuck up for the team like that.
  
  "That’s Juwan Howard from Chicago," Wade said. "He’s invested in everything that goes on with this team."
  
  And then Wade might have gotten a little carried away, even dabbling in the third person.
  
  "Juwan as big of a part of this team as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade is," Wade said. "His voice and his leadership around here means a lot to us. He understands that and he really gets it this year. If it takes something like that, hey. I didn’t know he did it until after the game and I said, 'That’s hilarious. That’s my boy from Chicago.'"
• On Udonis Haslem's cut above his eye
  
  LeBron put up a historic line on Sunday, but in his effort to be humble about the whole thing, he sent Haslem some praise.
  
  "He's the biggest part of how we won last night," LeBron said. "Even with the individual performance of myself and D-Wade, I think UD got the game ball."
  
  About the gash above his right eye from Lou Amundson's inadvertent elbow?
  
  Oddly enough, Wade enjoyed that.
  
  “Yeah, I liked it because I know certain people when they see their own blood, they get a little crazy," Wade said. "I actually liked it when I saw the blood dripping down.”
  
  How does Haslem look now after the nine stitches? Here's a photo I snapped.
  
  
  ESPN.com

Not bad for nine stitches.

I guess.

LeBron James' 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists in Game 4 hadn't been done in a playoff game in over a half-century, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

But was it even James' best playoff game of his career?

Believe it or not, it might not have been.

At least statistically.

Considering the context of the series and the Heat's desperation with Chris Bosh sidelined, James' outing might be more impressive than his box score implies. But strictly looking at his numbers, how does his Sunday performance stack up?

Using a box score metric devised by our own John Hollinger called Game Score, James' Game 4 was just the seventh-best of his career.

Yes, seventh.

Here are James' top performances in the playoffs.



It's human nature to hail the latest achievement as the greatest achievement, but according to this measure, James' performance on Sunday wasn't even a top-5 outing. It ranked seventh by Game Score, which you can think of as a one-game player efficiency rating (PER).

Why wasn't a 40-18-9 outing ranked higher on the list?

For one, it's a testament to James' career. James receives a strong dose of criticism for his playoff duds, and after his Finals performance last season, much of it is warranted. But James has put up some mind-numbing games over his career.

If we're nitpicking, he tallied five turnovers Sunday and never made a 3-pointer. Granted, he didn't miss a 3-pointer, either, but the 3-pointers help efficiency in a big way. If you personally feel that rebounds are extra valuable, you might regard James' Sunday performance as his best. Feels silly to find flaws in a nearly spotless game like that.

Our own Brian Windhorst, who has covered James' entire career, believes that James' Sunday outing ranks as his best playoff performance since Game 5 against Orlando in 2009, when James put up 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. Game Score called it James' 10th-best performance.

More than anything, that James' game might not have been his statistical best speaks to an up-and-down playoff career that has the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

All in all, LeBron's outing was just about as good as it gets.

(Data provided by Basketball-Reference.com)

Udonis Haslem had a tough week.

In Game 1 against Indiana last Sunday, Haslem missed all four shots from the floor. In Game 2, he saw his playing time cut in half during a home loss. In Game 3, he was demoted to the reserve role for a rookie -- a rookie who had never played a playoff game, no less -- and played a season-low seven minutes in another loss.

Things were spiraling away from the Heat's co-captain. Perhaps the most prideful and dignified player on the roster, Haslem was forced to watch his team get demoralized in the series from the bench. He could do little but offer high-fives and encouragement, even though his team was getting crushed and pushed around on the floor. In just a week, Haslem was reduced from a crucial starter to a detached observer.

In an ideal world, Haslem was supposed to be the team's replacement for Chris Bosh after the All-Star strained an abdominal muscle in Game 1. But Haslem had been mired in the worst shooting slump of his career and wasn't effective in guarding Roy Hibbert, a center who stood about half a foot taller. With LeBron James shifting to the power forward slot, Haslem was the odd man out. It was a tough week, to be sure.

But on Sunday, however, Haslem got his groove back.

It started with a put-back dunk early in the second quarter, as Haslem rose up out of nowhere and slammed Dwyane Wade's miss with one hand. It was a stunning play from Haslem, considering it looked his shoes had been filled with cement over the last couple of weeks.

Then in the fourth quarter, it all came together for Haslem. And in doing so, it temporarily welded the Heat's Big Three again. With jumper after jumper, Haslem rediscovered his mid-range game that has made him so valuable as a floor-spacing big man over his career. Haslem scored 14 points in Game 4, the first time a Heat big man scored more than 10 points since Bosh went down.

What caused the change?

A little encouragement from James and Wade, Haslem told reporters in Indianapolis after the game.

"D-Wade and LeBron told me to just play my game," Haslem said. "Pick and pop.”

Ah, the pick-and-pop. For those who don't fall into the basketball junkie category, the pick-and-pop might be a foreign term. The "pop" refers to the big man who "pops" out to the mid-range area after setting a screen on the ball. Instead of rolling to the rim, the big man stays back for a jumper to clear the paint. For the 6-8 Haslem, rolling toward the 7-2 Hibbert and 6-10 David West wasn't a bankable strategy.

"I did some things out there that I was used to doing," Haslem said. "The pick-and-pop has really been my game the majority of my career, so instead of rolling to basket into those trees down there I just flared back. I’m more comfortable doing that than anything."

It's true Haslem stayed away from the basket area where he's getting blocked twice as often as his normal career rate. With the Heat up by five points heading into the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Wade and Haslem started running their pick-and-pop game. Wearing a bandage on a cut over his eye that required nine stitches after the game, Haslem found pockets in the Pacers defense and waited for the pass from his driving teammates.

The barrage started with a short jumper on the right baseline with just under six minutes left. Then another pop on the right side when the Pacers put two on Wade. Drilled it. And then another at the top of the key. Hit it again. And then the dagger with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter; he drained a jumper from the left elbow after Hibbert sunk into the paint to put the Heat up by seven.

For a five-minute stretch in the fourth quarter, Haslem matched the Pacers point-for-point, each tallying eight points down the stretch. Without Haslem's timely shot-making, the Heat might not have pulled away as they comfortably as they did.

This was vintage Haslem. The pick-and-pop game had vanished from his repertoire recently, and the Heat sorely missed that paint decongestant with Bosh sidelined. The Heat's offense sings when Bosh pulls opposing big men out of the key to cover jump shots (Hibbert or West, in the case of the Pacers). A pick-and-pop shooter becomes vital in opening up the lane for Wade and James to penetrate, but that had been stopped up recently.

Haslem, who had shot a measly 3-for-12 on jumpers in the playoffs heading into Sunday's game, wasn't a threat anymore. But now, he might be. If he can keep shooting that way in Game 5, the Heat should be able to get what they want offensively. So much of the Heat's offense requires an able pick-and-roll partner that draws the defense away from James and Wade.

To think Haslem's jump shot is suddenly cured might be a bit optimistic; it's just one game, after all. But for one game, the Heat found a replacement for Bosh as a member of the Heat's vaunted trio. By balancing the floor for James and Wade to thrive in the paint and grabbing rebounds, Haslem could be the most important player for the Heat going forward outside of the Big Two.

If Haslem can maintain his breakthrough scoring performance from Game 4 into Game 5 on Tuesday, the Heat may have found the pressure release they so desperately needed after Bosh went down.

"I just got back to my comfort zone," Haslem said. "Pickin' and poppin'."

In another installment of the Heat Index's 3-on-3 series, our writers give their takes on the storylines before the Heat visit the Pacers in Game 4 of the East semifinals (ABC, 3:30 ET).

1. Fact or Fiction: LeBron is right, Game 4 is a must-win for the Heat.

Tom Haberstroh: Fiction. The "must-win" meme is the worst thing to happen in sports analysis since the basketball adaptation of the "closer" term. That may be a bit strong, but our casual acceptance that a non-elimination game is a "must-win" has gotten a bit out of control. If the Heat lose Sunday, they still have potentially two games remaining at home. This isn't do-or-die. Yet.

Michael Wallace: Fiction. I know the point LeBron was trying to make, but I think in a literal fashion, when it comes to this situation, it's not true. Elimination games are must-win games. Neither team's season would end based on the outcome of Game 4. I actually believe this game is bigger for the Pacers' psyche. The Heat can't go in thinking this series is over if they don't win Sunday. Even if they're down 3-1, there's still a game in Miami on Tuesday. Which means there's still a chance to start a rally.

Brian Windhorst: Fact. I think it is rather obvious that getting down 3-1 without Chris Bosh and with the Pacers getting more confident by the minute is not a recipe for victory. The difference between 3-1 and 2-2 obviously is vast, especially because it would give the Heat back the home-court advantage. The Heat players have a lot on the line here: reputations and futures and legacies. Way more than the Pacers.

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2. Fact or Fiction: D-Wade came off worse than Spoelstra in Game 3.

Haberstroh: Fact. And that's a remarkable achievement by Wade considering that Heat fans were calling for Spoelstra's pink slip after the Pacers went up 7-0 during the Dexter Pittman Experiment of Game 3. And then sprinkle in the fact that Spoelstra had a heated argument with the team's most beloved star. And still, there's no question that Wade came off worse in Game 3. That's how awful Wade was in Thursday's game.

Wallace: Fact. I asked Dwyane on Saturday if he felt he made a mistake by showing his frustrations in such a public fashion during that timeout blowup with Spoelstra. He said it was just the byproduct of a heated discussion during an intense time in the game. At the end of the day, I truly believe Dwyane was much madder with himself than anyone on that Heat bench. His body just wasn't cooperating. He lashed out. He looked bad doing it. Everyone insists it's behind them now.

Windhorst: Fact. Spoelstra's Dexter Pittman experience and revolving door of subs was not exactly awe-inspiring. But Wade came off as petulant because of the way he was playing, especially his hard-to-explain effort level. Combined with his inexcusable flagrant foul in Game 2, Wade's attitude so far in this series has been has been poor. Including snapping at his coach at a crucial part of the game.

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3. Fact or Fiction: The Heat should still be favored in this series.

Haberstroh: Fiction. In light of the Wade injury stuff, I've moved from toss-up to slight nod to the Pacers. I still think the Heat have a good chance of turning this around and beating the Pacers, but I don't find it to be a likely scenario anymore. Not with Bosh out. Not with Wade playing on one leg. I don't think this is an X's-and-O's problem as much as it is a physical one. Does Wade still have the burst in his step to be himself? I'm not sure. If he doesn't, it becomes a 1.5-on-8 ordeal.

Wallace: Fiction. Call me crazy, but I consider it a 50-50 series right now. Yes, the Pacers have a 2-1 series lead. But I've seen the Heat rally from a 2-0 deficit in the Finals to beat Dallas in 2006. And I've seen Miami hold a 2-1 series lead over the Mavs last season in the Finals and squander it. I've always said the Heat seem to respond to adversity far better than prosperity. But without Chris Bosh available and with Wade ailing a bit, nothing less than their A-game will beat Indy.

Windhorst: Fact. If they split in Indiana, which is still possible, then they will have done exactly what was expected of them and they will have control of the series. Because this is still within reach, they are not yet desperate. They lose Game 4, of course, then they become a heavy underdog. In short, it's a big game.

INDIANAPOLIS – Frank Vogel calls them his Vince Lombardi moments.

It's those times when the Indiana Pacers' coach claims to deliver just the right motivational message and make the most effective adjustments before he sends his team out after halftime in the perfect frame against the Miami Heat.

“I'm a genius,” Vogel sarcastically quipped. “That simple.”

How the Pacers have taken a surprising 2-1 series lead against the Heat entering Game 4 Sunday might be a bit more complicated to explain than what Vogel has let on.

But not by much.

Among the adjustments Miami hopes to make is to buck a recent trend in which the Pacers have dominated the third quarter in each of the past two games to take control of this series. For whatever reason, the Heat have been a bit sluggish coming out of the locker room after halftime. And as a result, they've been slammed to start the second half.

The Pacers have outscored the Heat 54-26 in the third quarters of the past two games, which includes holding Miami to just 12 points in the period in Game 3 on the way to a 94-75 victory on Thursday to pull ahead in the series.

Miami has shot just 31.5 percent in what has proved to be the decisive period in its matchup with Indiana. The Heat haven't fared much better overall, and are shooting only 37.6 percent through three entire games.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra admitted after Saturday's practice that his team's third quarter production – or lack thereof – has been a longstanding problem that also affected the team during the first-round series against New York. Even last season, the Heat's inconsistency in making halftime adjustments – or responding to them – was a source of criticism all the way through the loss in the Finals to Dallas after squandering a 2-1 series lead.

“That's somewhere we have to be much better at,” Spoelstra said entering Sunday's game. “That's not exclusive to this series. We had a little bit of a problem with that against New York and in the regular season. Our guys understand that we have to come out with a different mentality and force in that third quarter. No question.”

Miami typically has done its most effective work defensively in the second and fourth quarter this season, with their opponents shooting higher percentages from the field in the first and third quarters – right after coming out of the locker room. Vogel said he's noticed the trend, but hasn't had to make many adjustments to capitalize because the third has always been a breakout period for Indiana.

“Our starters have played well against just about everybody all year,” Vogel said of the Pacers, who averaged 25.1 points a game in the third this season, their most of any quarter. “That unit has played at a level the Pacers haven't seen in quite some time. When they come out strong in the third quarter, we ride them a little longer than usual. And that's what led to these third quarter leads.”

The Pacers insist they take full advantage of the opportunity to regroup during the extended break between the first and second halves. It represents a fresh start.

“It's just part of the game we feel we can come out and execute because the information is still fresh in our heads,” forward David West said. “So we try to put a lot of emphasis on that point of the game. But it's more than just five guys, the starters. The bench guys come in and up the pace, up the edge and continue to pressure the other team.”

Several factors have affected the Heat's immediate performance after halftime in this series. In Game 1, Miami was forced into a major adjustment when starter Chris Bosh left the game in the second quarter with an abdominal strain that is expected to sideline him for the rest of the series.

Ironically, the Heat won the third quarter of that game and outscored the Pacers 53-38 overall in the second half. In Game 2, Miami missed 14 of 17 shots in the third and were outscored by 14 points en route to a 78-75 win for the Pacers in Miami. In Thursday's loss, Spoelstra switched his starting lineup in the third and inserted Ronny Turiaf at center after Dexter Pittman had a horrible three-minute stint to open the game.

While the Heat have been searching for answers after the half, the Pacers have been all about stability.

“I think we've done a good job of making adjustments, picking spots where we can attack and (identifying) where we're being attacked,” Pacers forward Danny Granger said. “That third quarter … It's been pivotal for us.”

INDIANAPOLIS – Dwyane Wade can’t get his age-25 explosion back, he can’t magically heal Chris Bosh’s abdominal muscle and he can’t take back the angry words he said to his coach on national television. But there are things that Wade and Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra can do to attempt to change the tide in their series with the Indiana Pacers.

Spoelstra goes to extreme and sometimes paranoid lengths to conceal his true thoughts and strategy. The team’s various non-answers about Wade’s health are just a recent example. But one thing that did come through in their preparation for Sunday’s Game 4 is some planned changes for the struggling and perhaps hurting Wade.

Without Bosh as a pick-and-roll partner in addition to giving up 7 inches to primary defender Paul George, Wade’s had trouble getting to the basket in this series. It’s forced him to rely more on jumpers than his preferred attacks. And his jump shot, whether it’s a slump or because his lift is being affected by some leg issues, has been in a deep freeze.

Spoelstra, seeing these realities, apparently intends to make some adjustments to try to find Wade some relief.

“Big part of that is my responsibility to make sure he get to place where he’s comfortable and confident and where he can be aggressive,” Spoelstra said. “That’s where we’ve been focusing our energies the last couple of days. I anticipate we’ll do a better job of it this game.”

Just what wrinkles Spoelstra has in mind and whether it might make a difference is to be determined. But this bit of in-between-game coaching is some of the most vital coaching Spoelstra has had to execute all year.

His moves so far in the series have come off as erratic, including a bizarre first quarter in Game 3, when he started a player who hadn’t been seen for weeks, Dexter Pittman. Then he shuffled in no less than 11 different players in the game’s first 12 minutes like it was some sort of preseason scrimmage.

Already dealing with a fragile offense, the Heat’s rhythm has been obliterated over the last two games. After averaging 98 points a game in the regular season and 96 in the first round against the New York Knicks, the Heat haven’t cracked 75 points since Bosh’s injury. In an effort to find a mixture that works in light of Bosh's absence, Spoelstra's decisions have been all over the place.

Udonis Haslem, one of the steadiest players on the team, has seen his playing time slashed and his mood darken noticeably on the bench and in the locker room. Rookie Norris Cole has gone from in the rotation to deep on the bench to one of the first subs in. Shane Battier went from backup wing to starting power forward. And then there’s Pittman, whose three minutes in Game 3 could kindly be called unsuccessful. Spoelstra must’ve agreed because Pittman never saw the floor again.

The whole thing resembled an out-of-control garden hose. Not exactly the feeling you want in a pivotal playoff game.

“When you have injuries, especially to key guys, roles change,” Battier said. “You just have to roll with it.”

With all that going on, figuring out how to ease Wade’s struggles -- he shot 10-of-35 over the past two games and has just 12 free throw attempts after he got 14 in Game 1 alone -- is Spoelstra’s greatest challenge.

If Spoelstra can tweak his game plan and find a way to re-engage his second-leading scorer, it could help turn the series around. And perhaps restore some confidence after a coaching performance that so far could be termed as shaky.

It is possible the Heat could look to post Wade up more often, a mainstay of his game during the season that has disappeared over the past several games. Spoelstra may attempt to free up Wade away from the ball so he doesn’t have to beat his man plus a secondary defender, most often the free-roaming Roy Hibbert, to get to the rim. It’s possible Spoelstra could go to Wade pick-and-rolls with LeBron James, which might force the Pacers to change the passive style they’ve enjoyed without having to worry about Bosh setting those usually valuable screens.

What is known is that Spoelstra had a meeting with Wade on Friday at the team hotel before Wade drove to see his old college coach, Tom Crean, at Indiana University. Then the Heat had a long film session on Saturday before going over new strategy for Game 4.

When it was over, Wade was downplaying health concerns and making references to how a game plan change may be beneficial.

“A lot of [the struggles] is not your lift or your explosion, sometimes it’s the game plan,” Wade said. “I’m sure tomorrow will be a different game than any other game in the series from how and where my attacks come.”

Wade, Spoelstra and the rest of the Heat hope it’s sure. They have not had any answers to the Pacers’ defense since Game 1. It may not be as simple as changing the strategy, if Wade is limited by an injury, there is only so much than can be done against an Indiana team that has been thoroughly enjoying itself on defense.

But Spoelstra seems ready to try something new, again. He’s running out of chances to find something that works.

“We have to vary our menu,” Spoelstra said. “We have to use everything we have.”

INDIANAPOLIS - It was a tale of two performances that defined the Indiana Pacers' blowout victory in Game 3 against the Miami Heat.

Pacers center Roy Hibbert had a formidable game while Heat guard Dwyane Wade's performance was flat-out forgettable. As expected, Indiana spent Saturday's practice bracing for what it expects to be a huge bounce-back effort from Wade, who went scoreless in the first half for the first time in 95 career playoff games and finished with just five points and five turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Heat worked Saturday to ensure that Hibbert won't duplicate the kind of impact that led to his career outing with 19 points, 18 rebounds and five blocked shots in Thursday's 94-75 win to take a 2-1 series lead.

"We're going off the mindset ... that D-Wade isn't going to have the kind of night he had in Game 3," Hibbert said after the Pacers' practice Saturday in preparation for Sunday's game. "So we're preparing for him to have a good night, and we'll have to go out there and execute."

Wade missed 11 of his 13 shot attempts and struggled to get into the lane against Indiana's speed and length. Wade also has been dealing with nagging knee and lower-leg injuries that required extensive treatment in recent days.

But with two days off before Game 4, the Pacers expect a more explosive display from Wade. Hibbert insists Indiana will be ready for the challenge, as well as the chance to take a commanding 3-1 lead before the series shifts back to Miami.

"We have some schemes to put him in situations to get the ball out of his hands, and make sure he works on the defensive end," Hibbert said. "I'm not really worried about scoring. I'm really worried about stopping LeBron (James) and D-Wade from getting into the paint."

As for his own game, Hibbert said he can't guarantee another massive double-double like he had in Game 3. But he did vow to focus on two areas.

"I'll tell you one thing: I'm going to rebound and defend," Hibbert said. "Whatever happens after that, happens."

INDIANAPOLIS - After cancelling practice and media sessions Friday, the Heat hunkered down in their search for answers to overcome a 2-1 series deficit against the Pacers. With two days to recover and regroup before Game 4 Sunday, I break down where the Heat must go from here.

The only person who might feel more validated than the members of the Indiana Pacers after Thursday night is none other than a player from the losing side: Chris Bosh.

Since joining the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010, the power forward has absorbed all sorts of harsh criticism from seemingly every corner of the basketball world.

He's soft! He's riding the coattails of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade! He isn't qualified to be in the Big Three!

And yet, what's abundantly clear now is that the Heat might not go anywhere unless Bosh rescues them from this series. Since losing Bosh during Game 1, the Heat have been outscored by 22 points in Games 2 and 3 with Bosh missing in action. The Heat's offense is in disarray and the team turmoil came to a boiling point when Wade, the face of the franchise, had to be restrained from coach Erik Spoelstra on the bench on national television. All with Bosh out of the picture, nursing an abdominal strain that could keep him out for weeks.

Who's riding whose coattails?

Unfortunately for the Heat, Bosh's potential rescue isn't likely to happen anytime soon, and there's a chance he might not return in these playoffs. What Wade's meltdown and the Heat's 19-point loss Thursday underlined was the fact that the Heat desperately miss what Bosh brings to the table.

As a smooth-shooting power forward, Bosh functioned as the team's stabilizer and, perhaps more importantly, the scoring buffer between Wade and James. Spoelstra has insisted over the last two seasons that Bosh, not Wade or James, is the most vital player on the Heat roster. But each time the coach made that statement, the declaration was usually met with an air of mocking skepticism.

Bosh, the most valuable Heat player? The guy who averaged 18.0 points and 7.9 rebounds this season after averaging 24.0 and 10.8 in 2009-10? The guy who scored over 30 points just twice this season? The guy who promised in the preseason to average 10 rebounds a game this season and couldn't even average eight?

Yes, that guy.

Though often a punch line and target of ridicule, Bosh thrives in the most important play in professional basketball, the pick-and-roll. When Bosh went down, the Heat also lost one of their greatest weapons in the halfcourt: a simple screen for James or Wade to give them space to work their magic. Bosh has been replaced by non-scorers in Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony and Ronny Turiaf, and the Heat offense has never looked so clogged.

Bosh is often labeled as soft because of a finesse game that includes a consistently effective mid-range jumper. Among the dozens of players with at least 100 shots from 10-15 feet this season, no one shot better than Bosh's 49.5 percent conversion rate, according to Hoopdata.com. Not Dirk Nowitzki. Not Kobe Bryant. Not Kevin Durant. No one.

For this reason, Bosh creates a dilemma for defenders in the pick-and-roll. Leave Bosh to wall off James' or Wade's penetration? Or shade toward Bosh and make sure the league's most sure-handed mid-range shooter doesn't get an open look?

Watch how Roy Hibbert and David West "guard" the Heat's big men. Or better yet, watch how they sag into the paint and ignore the Heat's big men. Watch how Wade and James settle for pull-up jumpers -- the least potent weapon in their arsenals next to heaving halfcourt shots -- because multiple bodies are anchored in their way.

Or just listen to Hibbert.

"Without [Bosh] in the game, I can wander a little bit more and make the paint look a little more crowded and block more shots," Hibbert said after Thursday's rout. "When he's there, I have to respect his ability."

To see the Bosh effect, look no further than Wade's whopping total of two shots derived from the pick-and-roll in Game 3. According to SynergySports, Wade missed both shots after a screen and they were both as a result of Hibbert's noted lack of respect for big men in red. Wade clanked a running floater over Hibbert in the third quarter because the 7-foot-2 All-Star shifted over to Wade, ignoring Turiaf. On another possession, Wade got blocked by Hibbert after the screen because Anthony was never deemed a threat as a roll man.

The pick-and-roll used to be Wade's bread and butter, the vehicle he road to a title in 2006. Without Bosh, it's almost useless. The Pacers can throw two on the ball and lure Wade into rolling the dice on a jump shot. The result? Wade has shot a putrid 16 percent (4-for-25) on jumpers since Pacers coach Frank Vogel had a day to game-plan for the Heat's post-Bosh offense before Game 2.

James has enjoyed more success than Wade in the pick-and-roll game without Bosh, but he certainly feels the effects of Bosh's absence. Because the Heat can ill-afford to play two big men without any semblance of scoring ability, James often is forced to play power forward and exhaust himself defensively on big men. James ran around like a man possessed defensively in the first half Thursday and then, predictably, trailed off after halftime.

There's little evidence that Bosh's skill-set has diminished since he came to Miami, only his role. Bosh has proved that he can be the scorer we knew in Toronto if he gets the touches. Consider that in Wade's nine-game absence in January this season, Bosh averaged 26 points on 59 percent shooting. He sacrificed touches when he came to Miami and did it for the goal of winning a title.

Spoelstra maintains that the Heat "have enough" to replace Bosh's presence. Now, Bosh can only watch while the Heat struggle to survive without him. As we're seeing now in the case of Bosh, sometimes you don't know what you have until it's gone.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tough defense might not have been the only factor that contributed to Dwyane Wade having one of the worst playoff performances of his career in Thursday's blowout loss in Game 3 to the Indiana Pacers.

Wade is dealing with lingering injuries that forced him to miss several games late in the regular season, and the Miami Heat guard required treatment in recent days for knee and leg soreness, sources told ESPN.com on Thursday.

Wade was held scoreless in the first half of Game 3 and finished with just five points and five turnovers in 37 minutes during the 94-75 loss to the Pacers, dropping Miami into a 2-1 series deficit entering Game 4 on Sunday.

After missing 11 of his 13 shots from the field, Wade downplayed concerns about whether he has been slowed by an injury or illness during the series. But even Wade's teammates questioned his health after Thursday's loss. Wade missed a total of 17 games this season, including eight of the final 15, for various ankle, foot and knee injuries in addition to a dislocated left index finger.

“At this point of the season, no one is 100 percent,” Wade said when asked after Thursday's loss whether he was affected by an injury.

The Heat already are struggling to compensate for the loss of forward-center Chris Bosh, who is out indefinitely with a lower abdominal strain he sustained in the opening game of the series last week. With Wade also quietly ailing, the Heat's chances of beating the Pacers and returning to the Eastern Conference finals could be in serious jeopardy.

Wade's frustrations with his play -- and his body -- boiled over in the third quarter of Thursday's game when he got into a heated exchange with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra during a timeout. Wade and Spoelstra came face-to-face briefly, and Wade was then restrained by forward Udonis Haslem.

Wade declined to comment on the incident after the game, saying, “I don't even remember what y'all talking about.”

Haslem, the only other player on the Heat's roster who was part of the 2005-06 championship team, said the incident was simply a discussion between two people who desperately wanted to win. The Pacers were in the midst of a 17-3 run when the timeout was called.

“We've got a lot of alpha males in this locker room, on this team,” Haslem said. “We're going to encourage each other and get on each other's case when need be. But it's all constructive criticism. I don't think it's personal with anybody. Emotions get high. It's the playoffs.”

But Spoelstra said confrontations like those are routine during intense moments in games and practices.

“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,” Spoelstra said. “That was during a very emotional part of the game. We were getting our butt kicked. Dwyane and I have been together for a long, long time. We've been through basically everything.”

They're now in a series that turned out to be much tougher and far more physical than many had expected. Wade is shooting just 31 percent from the field in three games against the Pacers while averaging 19.3 points in the series. His struggles Thursday were evident from the outset.

Wade missed his first five shots and was held scoreless in the first half for the first time in 95 career playoff games. His first basket came on a jumper with 10:22 left in the third quarter. By then, it was obvious that Wade was having a difficult time beating his defender to get into the lane, and he was slow to recover defensively. He appeared to bang his right hand while defending Paul George in the third quarter and spent several minutes favoring that injury.

“He obviously wasn't himself,” Heat forward LeBron James said of Wade. “He wants to play better, of course.”

Heat guard Mario Chalmers scored a team-high 25 points in an effort to compensate for Wade's off night. James had 22 points and seven rebounds, and reserve center Joel Anthony finished with 10 points. But Miami lacked the firepower to match Indiana, which had four players in double figures.

Wade tried to soften the impact of a tough game with a bit of humor and sarcasm. But even poking fun at himself quickly gave way to a sobering reality for the Heat.

“I guess I made history tonight. It was a bad night,” Wade said. “There were a lot of reasons for it. ... We're not going to win a ballgame with Chris Bosh out and me scoring five points, obviously. There's frustration in that.”

Wade also credited the Pacers' defense for making the night uncomfortable. Indiana defended Wade with several different players, including Danny Granger, Paul George, George Hill and Leandro Barbosa. They mixed up coverages and rotated defenders with quickness and size.

The Heat are scheduled to practice Friday, and Wade is likely to get two full days of treatment on his sore knees and legs before Sunday's game. The plan for Wade also includes reviewing Thursday's loss to find ways to attack an Indiana defense that is holding the Heat to just 81.7 points and 37.6 percent shooting from the field.

“Every game, we come out and run some plays for me whether I'm on and whether I'm not,” Wade said. “You just try to get the best opportunity. I didn't hit many [shots] -- I was 2-for-13. I knew I didn't have it going. No secret about that. Obviously, I have to go back and look at the film.”