MIAMI (AP) — LeBron James and Dwyane Wade did almost everything for Miami — until the final minute. And that has the Heat facing their first big problem of the postseason.
David West scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and the Indiana Pacers took home-court advantage away from Miami by beating the Heat 78-75 in Game 2 of the teams' Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday night — after James and Wade both came up short on key opportunities down the stretch.
“We never felt like we were the underdogs,” Indiana's Danny Granger said.
The series is tied at a game apiece, with Game 3 in Indianapolis this Thursday night.
With Chris Bosh out indefinitely because of a strained abdominal muscle, James scored 28 points for Miami and Wade finished with 24, making them the only two Heat players to score more than five — the first time that happened in franchise history, according to STATS LLC. James missed two free throws with 54.3 seconds left and Miami down one and Wade was short on a layup that would have tied the game with 16 seconds remaining.
The Heat were outscored 28-14 in the third quarter, shooting 3 for 17 in that period. They didn't score in the final 2:41 of the game and when Mario Chalmers missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it on the last play, Miami dropped to 1 for 16 from 3-point range on the night, 1 for 22 in the series.
Photo: LeBron James
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