In meeting of Eastern giants, Indiana Pacers prevail

Indiana built on the NBA's best record with a 90-84 victory over LeBron James and the Miami Heat on Tuesday night in an early preview at a likely Eastern Conference finals matchup.

Roy Hibbert and the Indiana Pacers improved to an NBA-best 19-3 with their win over the Heat. Michael Conroy / AP

INDIANAPOLIS, United States // Indiana treated Round 1 with Miami like it was a championship event.

Now it’s time to get ready for the rematch.

Roy Hibbert controlled the middle, scoring 24 points, and Paul George scored 15 of his 17 points during a second-half scoring spree that helped the surging Pacers pull away late from the two-time defending champions Heat 90-84 – on a night Indiana didn’t come close to playing their best.

“We didn’t play that well in the first half, but we were only down seven going into the second half,” Hibbert said. “But we knew we were going to fight back.”

Nobody has done that better this season than the Pacers, who improved to 10-2 when trailing at halftime.

But everyone seems to be asking the same question: How good are Indiana?

The Pacers (19-3) returned home after finishing a five-day road trip that took them to four of the top five teams in the Western Conference, and a three-game span in which they beat both of last year’s finalists – San Antonio and Miami. Indiana’s three losses have come to teams that are a combined 46-19, all on the road, and they continue to hold on to the coveted title of NBA’s best record.

Tuesday night’s win also gave Indiana a three-game lead over the Heat (16-6) in the Eastern Conference chase for home-court advantage and extended their franchise-best home start to 10-0.

As for the schedule, it’s not getting much tougher.

After holding four-time MVP LeBron James to nine points and 3-of-11 shooting over the final three quarters, the Pacers get back-to-back home games against Charlotte and Detroit before heading to Miami on December 18. They’ll host Houston two days later and then play 12 consecutive games against teams currently under .500.

But it’s that rematch that everyone wants to see.

Win that one and the Pacers will assure themselves of no worse than a season split, and Miami (16-6) have a better sense of what they’ll have to do next week, too.

“There are going to be some ups and downs against this team,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They just played better down the stretch.”

That’s been the Pacers mantra all season, and it was no different Tuesday.

Before the game, Lance Stephenson acknowledged he was treating this contest like a championship game – something two of Miami’s big three, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, downplayed.

The hometown fans were in post-season form, too, booing loudly at the officials, chanting “He’s a flopper” on some contestable foul calls and eventually serenading Miami players with those familiar chants of “Beat the Heat.”

It looked a lot like last season’s Eastern Conference finals, which Miami won in seven games.

Hibbert dominated the middle, scoring nine of Indiana’s first 11 points and making a season-high 10 baskets – most from point-blank range – despite playing in the second half with a cotton plug in his injured nose. David West added 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists including a left-handed, 4-foot runner that gave Indiana an 88-81 lead with 38.9 seconds to go.

James’ defence and Miami’s physical double-teams frustrated George most of the night, but when George finally got free in the second half, late, he made three big 3-pointers to help the Pacers pull away. George, the NBA’s No 4 scorer, finished with 17 points, three rebounds and four assists.

Chasing George all night apparently took a toll on the Heat.

While James, the league’s No 2 scorer did get 17 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, he struggled uncharacteristically over the final 36 minutes – three quarters when Miami failed to top the 20-point mark. Wade also finished with 17 points, while Bosh added 12.

“I thought we brought it tonight,” James said. “We know they’re a very good defensive team. I thought they hit some tough shots and they attacked the rim real well but even though they had us down by 10 rebounds, I thought we rebounded well and we battled.”

Miami never trailed through the first 21/2 quarters.

Indiana finally tied the score at 55 on George Hill’s 3 with 8:15 left in the third, and Hibbert gave the Pacers’ the lead, 58-57, on a three-point play 2 minutes later. Miami never tied the score or retook the lead again as George heated up to keep the Heat at arm’s length.

“It was fun, it was a real intense game,” George said. “Both teams were playing at a high level. You could see an urgency to win this game tonight.”

OTHER TUESDAY RESULTS

Thunder 101, Hawks 92

Kevin Durant scored a game-high 30 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away from Atlanta to win their third straight.

Paul Millsap finished with 23 points to lead the Hawks (11-11) but they were undone when the Thunder (16-4) embarked on a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter.

Spurs 116, Raptors 103

Manu Ginobili came off the bench to score 16 points while adding nine assists as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Toronto Raptors.

Tony Parker added 15 points for the Spurs (16-4) while Amir Johnson and guard DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors (7-13) with 19 points.

Cavaliers 109, Knicks 94

Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 37 points and dished out 11 assists in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 109-94 victory over the New York Knicks.

Irving converted 14-of-23 shots from the field and the Cavs (8-13) have now won four of their last five games to climb back into the Eastern Conference play-off race.

Carmelo Anthony paced the Knicks (5-15) with 29 points and eight rebounds as New York lost for the 11th time in 13 games.

Timberwolves 121, Pistons 94

Kevin Love piled up 26 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists in 30 minutes as the Minnesota Timberwolves pounded the Detroit Pistons.

Love, who missed the Timberwolves’ 103-82 loss to Miami on Saturday because of his grandmother’s death, helped Minnesota (10-11) hand Detroit (10-12) a second straight loss.

Nets 104, Celtics 96

Deron Williams scored eight of his season-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, and the Brooklyn Nets led for the final 40 minutes in a victory over the Boston Celtics.

Williams returned after missing nine games with a sprained left ankle and the Nets (7-14) posted consecutive victories for the first time this season.

Bucks 78, Bulls 74

John Henson scored 25 points to help the Milwaukee Bucks secure a victory over the Chicago Bulls.

The Bucks (5-16) won for the third straight time in Chicago while the Bulls (8-11) played without injured starters Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose.