Coming into game four Sunday, the Miami Heat had a lot of questions to answer. Can Dwyane Wade bounce back from his worst playoff outing? Will LeBron James show up and not “choke” in the fourth? Can the Heat tie the series up at two before heading back home for game five?
Not only did the Heat answer yes to winning game four and tying the series, Wade had a second half explosion and James’ 40 points, 18 rebounds and 9 assists was something NBA fans haven’t seen in over 25 years.
Wade finished with 30 points 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
“Me and ‘Bron had it going,” said Wade.”
Wade had five points on 2-of-13 shooting in game four.
“We played off of each other very well. We both were aggressive at the same time. That’s beautiful basketball for the Miami Heat when we play that way,” James said.
The Heat have now regained the momentum of the series. With it tied 2-2, Miami has two of the next three games at home.
The Heat got much needed help from Udonis Haslem. Haslem scored 14 points and hit clutch jumpers in the fourth.
Danny Granger scored 20 and Paul George 13 to lead the Pacers. All-Star Roy Hibbert had just 10 points and was in foul trouble in the second half.
Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel will probably lose sleep thinking about the game Wade and James had.
“You get the ball out of one of those guy’s hands and it gets to the other guy’s,” he said. “It’s not like one superhero and a bunch of role guys.”
The Heat used a 25-5 run with 23 of the points coming from Wade and James.
Granger hit a 3-pointer and got the Pacers within 96-91 with 1:33 left, but Haslem hit another jumper and James closed the Pacers out with three free throws in the last 16 seconds.
Game five will be in Miami Tuesday night, tip off set for 8pm.
