The Miami Heat won’t put tickets on sale for a Game 7 until it becomes necessary.
But in these NBA Eastern Conference finals, you can see it coming.
For now, the best-of-7 series is tied 2-2 heading back to American Airlines Arena for Thursday’s Game 5, after the Indiana Pacers’ 99-92 victory Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Already assured is a return trip to Indianapolis for a Saturday Game 6, much to the delight of a gold-clad crowd who spent the night chanting, “Beat the Floppers!” and several other less catchy phrases.
With Dwyane Wade making little noise with his game early and the officiating crew making plenty with their whistles, the Heat lacked enough on a night when the Pacers got plenty from everyone in their starting lineup but All-Star forward Paul George.
While George dealt with the type of foul trouble that also limited Heat center Chris Bosh, the Pacers were able to hand the Heat their first road loss in more than two months behind 23 points by center Roy Hibbert, 20 by guard Lance Stephenson, 19 by guard George Hill and 14 by forward David West.
The Heat got 24 points from LeBron James, who fouled out with 56 sec-onds to play and 20 from foul plagued point guard Mario Chalmers, with Wade adding 16.
The Heat entered having won 23 of their previous 24 road games. But with Tuesday’s loss, they fell to 1-3 in Indiana this season, including their two regular-season blowout losses at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Ultimately, the Heat might be facing their second consecutive seven-game Eastern Conference finals, needing the maximum length to eliminate the Boston Celtics last season.
A Game 7, if necessary, would be Monday night at Miami’s American Airlines Arena, where the teams split the first two games of the series.
On Tuesday, Indiana moved to an 81-72 lead earlyin the fourth quarter before Wade helped the Heat close to within 83-80 on a driving layup with 6:49 to play. James then hit a three-pointer to tie it at 83-83.
From there, a James steal led to a Wade fast break that ended with a goal-tending call and a foul. Wade made the free throw on the unusual three-point play to put the Heat up 86-83.
But George answered with a three-point play of his own to tie it again at 86-86.
Ray Allen came back with a three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to put the Heat up 89-86.
Eventually, a Stephenson jumper tied it 89-89 with 3:28 to play.
West then scored inside on a put back attempt for a 91-89 Pacers lead.
That was followed by two Pacers offensive rebounds, the second leading to a three point play by Hibbert to give Indiana a 94-89 lead. James was called for his fifth foul on the play.
But James then hit a three-pointer with 80 seconds left to trim the Pacers’ lead to 94-92.
Stephenson, working against Allen, followed with a driving layup for a 96-92 Indiana lead. James was called for an offensive foul on the other end, fouling out with 56 seconds to play.
The Heat tied it at 54-54 on a Bosh three-pointer early in the third quarter. Miami pushed the margin to 58-54 for their largest lead to that point. Chalmers then hit a floater to cap a 9-0 run and make it 60-54, leading to a Pacers timeout.
The foul-filled game then took another foul-filled turn when Chalmers was called for his third and fourth fouls in rapid succession, forced to the bench with 6:39 to play inthe third period.
All the while, with James and Bosh missing three-pointers, the Pacers were able to push to a 64-60 lead with a 10-0 run of their own.
Amid that run, Bosh was called for his fourth foul with 5:05 to play in the third. He went to the bench and then immediately to the locker room after apparently twisting his right ankle, returning to the bench later in the period.
Sports, Pages 17 on 05/29/2013