07-03-2019, 12:55 AM
MIAMI -- Down by 15 early, the Miami Heat could have hit the panic button. A.J. Bouye Jersey . Instead, they found a way to move within two wins of another trip to the NBA Finals. LeBron James scored 26 points, Dwyane Wade added 23 and the Heat shook off a horrid start to beat the Indiana Pacers 99-87 on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, taking a 2-1 lead and breaking a back-and-forth trend in the rivalry. The teams had alternated wins and losses in 13 straight meetings -- until now. Miami once trailed 37-22, before outscoring Indiana 77-50 the rest of the way. "A lot of our situations that weve been through where weve struggled have been against this team," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Thats what they do to you. Theyre very good. Its a function of their defence. "But we had no choice but try to re-gather." That they did. And then some. Ray Allen added 16 points and led a late-game charge for the Heat, who will host Game 4 on Monday night. And it was the second time this season the Heat rallied from 15 points down to beat the Pacers in Miami -- it also happened on Dec. 18. "Tough loss for our guys," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "Thought we competed pretty well, came out of the gates really strong, got off to a good start and then didnt manage our foul trouble well and didnt manage picking up their defensive intensity well." Its the third straight series where the Pacers have faced a deficit. "A ton," Vogel said when asked how much resiliency the Pacers have left. "Its very early in the series." Paul George scored 17 points for Indiana, shooting 5 for 13 in his return after being concussed late in Game 2. Roy Hibbert had 16 points, David West added 13 and Lance Stephenson scored 10 for the Pacers, who never trailed until early in the third quarter. Miami started the game 2 for 10 from the floor. The Heat then made 21 of their next 31 shots, including eight straight in the third that gave the two-time defending NBA champions their first lead. James dunk with 7:36 remaining in the third put Miami up for the first time, 52-51. That was the first of nine lead changes in the quarter, before the Heat did what Spoelstra implored his team to do in a pregame locker room address. "Impose our identity," Spoelstra said. Eventually, the message reached the Heat, and their two best players led the way. "We just want to get better as the series goes on," James said. "We want to move their defence from side to side. When we do that, we give ourselves an opportunity to get to the lane. And when our shooters get going it definitely adds more space as you saw in the fourth quarter." James 3-pointer with 1:21 left in the third put Miami up 67-63, then its biggest lead of the night. Wade subbed in for James with 5.7 seconds left because the four-time MVP was dealing with what appeared to be a hamstring cramp and connected on a 3-pointer with 1.4 ticks remaining for a 74-67 lead going into the fourth. James retreated toward the locker room at that point, stopping halfway down the hallway known as "Championship Alley" while trainer Mike Mancias stretched him out. Meanwhile, Wade -- not exactly known for behind-the-arc prowess -- opened the fourth quarter with another 3, the Heat were up 10 and the floodgates were opening. Indiana got to 76-74 before Allen made a 3-pointer, and with that, the tone was set for the final minutes. Allen made three 3s in the final 5:59, the last of those putting Miami up by 15. "I think we need to stick to what we do," West said. "We got away from ourselves. We tried to make some stuff on the fly, which is not us." The halftime score looked ugly: Pacers 42, Heat 38. That didnt even come close to describing how much Miami struggled at times. Heres one example: After 11 minutes, it was Hibbert 10, Heat 10. Indiana led 19-5 early and 37-22 midway through the second. Luis Scola scored eight points off the bench in less than three minutes, and the Pacers were rolling. Or at least, looked like they were rolling. In the final 6:22 of the half, they had more turnovers (six) than points (five). And Miami took advantage, especially after George went to the bench with his third foul. Wade and James combined for 14 of Miamis final 18 points in the second, and a pair of short shots by Wade in the final minute helped pull the Heat within four at the break. NOTES: Commissioner Adam Silver was in attendance, posing with plenty of fans for photos. ... Stephenson had nine rebounds by halftime. The Heat, in total, had 11. ... Heat F Shane Battier, announced earlier in the day as the winner of the leagues Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, got his trophy in a pregame ceremony from 2013 recipient Chauncey Billups. ... Greg Oden was active for Miami for the first time since Game 4 of the opening round, with Michael Beasley on the inactive list. 23:54ET 24-05-14 Ben Koyack Jersey . Globo TV and other news outlets said early Monday that Scolari will not remain as coach after the national teams failure to win the World Cup at home. Ramik Wilson Jersey . It was the most lopsided loss in Lakers history. Darren Collison had a team-high 24 points while starting at shooting guard for the injured Jamal Crawford. Chris Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who apparently are trying to make up for decades of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers all in one season; theyve won the last two meetings by a combined 84 points. http://www.cheapjaguarsjerseysauthentic....-jr-jersey . Harris has played in six games since joining the Argos in 2012, completing 17-of-35 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown.LOS ANGELES -- Russell Westbrook scored 30 points in his return to the lineup, Kevin Durant added 27, and the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Los Angeles Clippers 107-101 Wednesday night in a possible playoff preview. Serge Ibaka added 15 points for the Thunder, who had their starting five together for just the second time since Christmas Day. Westbrook had sat out two of the previous three games and has missed 34 games this season with a variety of injuries. Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, and Chris Paul added 25 points and eight assists for the Clippers, who could have owned the tiebreaker over the Thunder if they had won. Instead, the teams split their season series 2-2. Los Angeles rallied from a 15-point deficit in the fourth to twice get within a point, but the Clippers only lead was by one point in the first quarter. The Clippers big run had them trailing 94-93, with Paul sandwiching 3-pointers around Griffins free throw and DeAndre Jordan dunking off Darren Collisons miss to cap a 14-0 run with 5:03 to play. Jordan finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Griffin missed two free throws that would have tied the game at 97. Westbrooks putback dunk off Durants miss kept the Thunder ahead 99-95. Durants 3-pointer pushed their lead to 102-97 before Collison answered with a 3 to get the Clippers within two. Matt Barnes fouled Durant, who made both for a 104-100 lead. Paul missed the first and made the second free throw with 38 seconds left to keep the Clippers down by three. The final 38 seconds were a free throw contest, with the Thunder making 3 of 4 to close out the win. The Thunder are second in the West sstandings with four games remaining in the regular season; the Clippers are third with three to play. Ryquell Armstead Jersey. They could potentially meet in the second round of the playoffs. Oklahoma City opened the third on a 14-4 run, with four different players scoring in extending the lead to 73-58. Durant scored four in a row to push the Thunders lead to 81-64. Defensively, the Thunder forced the Clippers into a mistake-prone, eight-minute stretch that included four turnovers -- two each by Griffin and Paul -- and a series of missed shots. Led by five points from Paul and three by Griffin, the Clippers ran off nine in a row to get within eight before Reggie Jacksons 3-pointer sent the Thunder into the fourth leading 85-73. The Thunder led by 15 points when the Clippers offence put together a 20-10 run to trail 59-54 at halftime. Jordan starred in his own highlight reel, dunking three times, twice off alley-oop passes. Griffin got in a slam of his own and Hedo Turkoglu hit a 3-pointer that beat the shot clock and helped bring the Clippers back within single digits. Notes: The Thunder improved to 8-6 in the second game of a back-to-back. They were playing their 14th such set this season. ... Theres still no timetable for the return of Clippers G Jamal Crawford (sore left Achilles tendon) and F Danny Granger (strained left hamstring). Crawford has missed five straight games and Granger six. ... The Clippers are one win away from tying the franchise record of 56 wins in the regular season, set on the last day of the season a year ago. ... Rapper Drake and singer Rihanna, sitting separately, and former NBA guard Baron Davis attended the game. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys Wholesale NHL Jerseys Wholesale MLB Jerseys Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Wholesale NCAA Jerseys Wholesale Football Jerseys Wholesale Basketball Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys ' ' '