Indiana Pacers' Roy Hibbert and Miami Heat's LeBron James battle for a rebound during Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals. Photograph: Michael Conroy/AP
And so the see-saw battle between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers goes on: the Pacers claimed Game Four 99-92 to level at 2-2 and make the best-of-seven series now a best-of-three.
The big men of the Pacers scored the first 11 points of the game and led for much of the evening. But there were also 10 lead changes and Indiana did not look safe until LeBron James fouled out with 56 seconds remaining, shortly after draining a huge 3-pointer to bring the deficit down to two points.
The Pacers will now go to Miami for Game Five on Thursday. The Heat won Games One and Three, with the Pacers taking Two and Four.
The Miami Heat may be the best small (it's all relative) basketball team in the world. But the Pacers are not small. They are big. The Pacers had a 49-30 rebounding advantage and outscored Miami in the paint 50-32.
Roy Hibbert's double double of 23 points and 12 rebounds was supported by Lance Stephenson's 20 points, George Hill with 19 points, David West 14 and Paul George 12.
It was a relatively quiet night for George. Near the end of the third period came another of those (Trademark) LeBron James vs Paul George magic moments. This time it was LeBron coming out on top: George on a fast break was suddenly confronted by James leaping as if from nowhere at the basket, beating away the attempted shot.
没有评论:
发表评论