Pacers steal Game 2 from Heat, 97-93

Paul George and Lebron JamesMIAMI (AP) – David West punched two passes from LeBron James away in the final minute, then punched the air.

He had plenty of reason to celebrate.

The Eastern Conference finals are tied, and home-court advantage now belongs to West and the Indiana Pacers.

Roy Hibbert scored a postseason career-high 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, West broke up two passes by James for huge turnovers, and the Pacers evened the East title series at a game apiece with a 97-93 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 2 on Friday night.

”We haven’t done anything yet,” Hibbert said. ”We haven’t closed the series out. We won one game. A lot of us feel we should be up 2-0.”

Paul George scored 22 points, George Hill added 18 and West finished with 13 for the Pacers, who handed the Heat just their fourth loss in their last 50 games, closed the game on a 13-5 run – and denied one of the game’s best playmakers in James twice in the final moments to finish it off.

”There’s only like one person that’s more scarier than that,” Hill said, speaking of James. ”And that’s, you know, God.”

The series resumes with Game 3 on Sunday night in Indianapolis. Read more