Untimely cold stretch is costly for Indiana Pacers' Danny Granger - MiamiHerald.com

On a day the Indiana Pacers did plenty right, they picked an inauspicious time to go cold. The Heat defense certainly had something to do with that.

Down by one with 4:50 left on Sunday, the Pacers didn’t have another field goal the rest of the day, missing their final nine shots from the field. Their only point in that span was a free throw by Paul George, who also missed one. The Heat closed the game on a 9-1 run.

“We had this game,” said George, whose team led by as many as nine in the first half. “We felt like we gave it away. We played great enough defense to win it.”

But Danny Granger, the Pacers’ leading scorer this season, had a dismal game, struggling through his first scoreless half since April 2007. He finished with seven points, missing nine of 10 shots â€" including 0 for 3 in the fourth quarter. Granger suggested none of that was his fault. He said coach Frank Vogel apologized to him for not getting him the ball in better spots.

“It’s not me,” Granger said. “I’ve got to play in the system. It’s on all of us. None of the shots were in the flow of the game. We have to get creative finding ways to get me the ball. A lot of it was forced shots. If I didn’t [force shots], I would have had three shots” all game.

Granger went on to say that “when we play Miami, they like using me as a decoy. It’s hard. Up to six minutes in the third quarter, I had only taken three shots. I got screened 100 times by Joel Anthony.”

Vogel said “we are going to have to get Danny better shots. I do not know if he is going to have a huge offensive series, especially when he has to guard LeBron James for 38 minutes.”

But Granger said “the way to attack LeBron and Dwyane Wade is to make them play defense. You have to make them work both ways.”

Foul trouble

Besides Granger, George also had a subpar night. He battled foul trouble throughout and fouled out with two minutes left, finishing with six points on 1-for-5 shooting.

Indiana got good work from center Roy Hibbert (17 points, 11 rebounds) and power forward David West (17 points, 12 rebounds).

Indiana’s drought began after George Hill’s three-pointer trimmed the Heat’s lead to 86-85. George and Granger then missed three-pointers, and George had a transition layup blocked by Wade. West missed two nine-foot jumpers, Hill missed a three-pointer and a 10-footer, and Roy Hibbert and Granger also missed jumpers.

Hill said it was both a case of the Pacers missing makeable shots and the Heat playing disruptive defense. The Pacers shot 6 for 21 from the field and 3 for 8 from the line in their 16-point fourth quarter.

“We relied too much on our first option,” said point guard Darren Collison, who didn’t play the final 7:52. “We have to go to our second and third option. If we get more ball movement, we’ll be fine.”

Ball movement is something Vogel preached to his team in recent days. “They can’t guard great passing teams,” he told his team during a huddle, adding his players should “do what the Mavericks did” in last year’s Finals and do it even better.

But Indiana closed with just three more assists (18) than turnovers (15). The Pacers shot 40.3 percent from the field and committed 31 fouls, to Miami’s 22.

Transition points

“We played a decent game,” Vogel said. “We did not shoot very well, we let the Heat get too many second shots and points in transition. Our guys are fouling too much.”

Do the Pacers feel like they squandered an opportunity because injured Chris Bosh missed the second half? “No,” Hibbert said. “They still have good players. Ronny Turiaf brings lots of energy.”

• Hibbert got a lucky break and avoided fouling out when referees called a foul on George with 4:32 left, even though replays showed Hibbert made contact with James. Hibbert had five fouls at the time.

Hibbert said he wasn’t surprised the Heat fronted him on defense. “They’re the quickest team jumping to the ball we’ve seen in a while,” he said. “They have really good post defenders.”