Indiana Pacers bench can't overcome James and Wade - MiamiHerald.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- As Indiana reserve Leandro Barbosa ignited the crowd by rolling in a dazzling runner in the lane to beat the halftime buzzer and extend the lead to eight, the Pacers seemed well on their way to heading back to Miami with a cushy 3-1 series lead.

But the opportunity slipped away in the second half, and the Heat salvaged a two-game split in Indianapolis by winning 101-93.

“We got off to a poor start again,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra admitted after the game.

Foul trouble

But on an afternoon when Pacers big men Roy Hibbert and David West struggled through foul trouble, the Pacers had to rely heavily on their bench.

“That group was hanging in with Roy and David on the bench,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “Hindsight, I think we should have got them back in sooner.”

‘Psycho’ time

But for the most part, the minutes the Pacers got from substitutes were good ones. In the first quarter, it was Tyler Hansbrough who came in and chipped in six points, while shooting 4 for 4 from the free-throw line.

Hansbrough was less sharp in the second half, though, as two costly traveling violations contributed to a big Heat run, and the team outscored the Pacers 30-16 in the third quarter.

Collison crush

In the second quarter, it was Darren Collison who entered the game and caused all sorts of problems for the Heat with his penetration. By the time he exited that stretch, he had scored 10 points.

He finished the game with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, but Vogel chose to go with starter George Hill for the final 4:32, despite Collison’s hot hand.

Barbosa also added eight off the bench for the Pacers, including his first-half buzzer-beater.

“We’re a complete team,” Vogel said. “We tried to hang in there, but obviously we didn’t hang in there well enough.”

Overall, the Pacers’ bench outscored the Heat’s bench â€" 34-20 â€" for the third time in the series.

The Big 2

But the bench play was not enough to match the play of Heat stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in a game that sometimes looked like two were beating five.

“We never thought it was going to be easy,” Danny Granger said.

Between the two of them, James and Wade scored 70 points; “We did a good job of getting more space,” said Wade.

The Heat bench also got a big boost off its own bench from Udonis Haslem, who scored 14 points in 25 minutes of work.

“Haslem made some huge shots,” Vogel said.

Both teams will now head back to Miami for a Tuesday night game.