With the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers tied up 2-2 heading into Game 5, several factors have come into play to determine the winner of each game. The rebounding advantage has been a big factor for the winner in addition to foul trouble for the Pacers. Another area to keep an eye on is Indiana's transition defense.

Miami stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade may have to pick their spots more now than they did in their younger days but they can still flat out embarrass opponents in the open court. When they gather steam in transition, everyone in the building moves toward the edge of their seat in anticipation of something that will end up with one of them staring down the rim while finishing the break with authority. The play is still only good for two points, just like a simple layup, but the ferocity and disregard for anything trying to derail what appears to be a runaway train in transition can be downright demoralizing.

So limiting those opportunities for the Heat to get out in the open floor and build up that head of steam is one of the things the Pacers have to key on, as they did in their two wins in the series. They simply have to continue to get back to try to slow down the Heat with no concerns about looking silly trying their best to slow down that train.

Now it helps if the Pacers make more shots and control the glass. Long rebounds lead to fast breaks and for the Heat that turns into fast points. According to mysynergysports.com, the Heat made nearly 60% of their shots in transition during the regular season and scored 1.13 points per possession, which is pretty average on paper (for comparison's sake, the Pacers shot a little worse on fewer attempts during the season, but scored 1.15 ppp in transition), but again, they don't include the numbers for will-killing momentum swings.

In their Game 1 win, the Heat outrebounded the Pacers 45 to 38 and scored 1.1 points per possession in transition. In their Game 4 win, the Heat outrebounded the Pacers 47 to 38 while scoring 1.33 ppp in transition. Now let's compare that to the Pacers' wins in Game 2 and 3. In Game 2, the Pacers won the rebound battle 50 to 40 while limiting the Heat to 0.71 ppp in transition. Much of the same in Game 3 as the Pacers held the edge on the glass 52 to 36 with the Heat again scoring just 0.71 ppp in transition.

In Game 3 in particular, the Pacers did a good job of disrupting Miami's transition opportunities and in doing so in a raucous Bankers Life Fieldhouse, not only prevented the points but threw some of that demoralizing momentum back in the Heat's face. Here's a clip of a few key plays from Game 3 (yes, Game 3 not 2) which show the type of effort the Pacers must maintain in transition defense for the rest of the series.

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Three times today I heard from people I know locally who aren't big basketball fans nor follow the Indiana Pacers on any level who all said they watched the Pacers' game on Sunday afternoon.

Two admitted they had no idea it was on and stumbled across it, but hey, they kept the game on to see what would happen. Well, it appears my anecdotal evidence paints a similar picture to what happened all around Central Indiana as the Indianapolis Business Journal reports (via IndyPacers) that local television ratings for Game 4 yesterday far exceeded expectations.

Sunday's game, which aired on WRTV-TV Channel 6, drew an 18.2 rating, according to New York-based Nielsen Media Research. That means about 195,200 central Indiana households tuned in. Nielsen reported that 36.1 percent of central Indiana households watching TV from 3:30 p.m. to just after 6 p.m. were tuned into the game, which the Pacers lost, 101-93.

Those are numbers that rival viewership for Indianapolis Colts regular-season games.

Considering the Fieldhouse was filled to the brim and it was a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon with plenty of baseball (where the rest of my fam was during the game), softball and soccer tournaments going on, those are impressive numbers, indeed.

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The Indiana Pacers were simply overwhelmed in the second half of their Game 4 loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday by an epic performance from LeBron James supplemented by a monster second half from Dwyane Wade. The pair scored 70 points on 50 shots, the most points they've combined to post in a playoff game in the past two seasons.

If there is any good to be gleaned for the Pacers it's that LeBron's 40 points, 18 rebounds and 9 assists wouldn't have been enough to beat them. In fact, even throwing in Wade's 30 points, they still needed Udonis Haslem to rise to the occasion down the stretch and make some big mid-range shots.

I've heard more than once in the time since the game ended that Danny Granger's technical for jawing with Wade was what sparked the dynamic guard's second-half excellence. But according to Wade, he already had sparked his game just prior to the technical when he drained a tough, step-back three pointer with Paul George right in his face followed by LeBron finding him zooming along the baseline for a big dunk. Those two plays turned what had been a 1 for 8 shooting performance in the first half into a 3 for 10 effort as Wade eventually made 12 of his last 15 shots.

The Pacers made the Heat work for their big game and they have to continue to do so if they want to win this series. With only one day off between games now fatigue should be the Pacers' ally.

Check out the links after the jump, including some post-game reaction from Paul George, David West, Wade and James.

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The Miami Heat win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 on Sunday afternoon ensured a Game 6 between the two teams on Thursday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Television concerns set the schedule as they juggle the various scenarios, stars and times.

The Pacers recently tweeted the news that Game 4 will be played at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday night.

Game 6 will tip off at 8pm on Thursday, May 24 in #Indy. Tickets are available here: bit.ly/KDXmtT #PacersPlayoffs

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 21, 2012

So the NBA and TNT have Game 6 all figured out but they still aren't sure when Game 5 on Tuesday will tip off from Miami. The tip time for Game 5 depends on how the San Antonio Spurs do against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night. If the Spurs win, the game will tip at 8:00 p.m. ET. If the Clippers win then the tip time will be at 7:00 p.m. ET to account for a double-header.

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It wouldn't have been a stretch to call this a must win for the Indiana Pacers, who needed every advantage in their arsenal to come out ahead against the Miami Heat in a best of seven series, but despite the Heat being carried entirely by Dwyane Wade and LeBron James for a majority of the second half, the Pacers didn't do themselves any favors by stepping away from their game and slipping into the style of play Miami wanted.

The Pacers opened the game stuffing the Heat, jumping out a 9-0 lead that gave them all the momentum. Underneath the success, the Pacers were still missing some key opportunities on fast breaks. Indiana spent much of the first half settling for wide open three pointers the Heat defense appeared willing to give the Pacers, forcing them away from the inside game.

The Heat responded by hitting their first three three-pointers, as James led the way for the Heat while Wade continued to struggle. Tyler Hansbrough gave some quality minutes early to help push the game into double figures, but the second unit struggled to give any help as the Heat starters continued to push, giving them a lead early in the second quarter.

Darren Collison exploded immediately after, leading the way for the blue and gold who ran off a 21-8 run to put them back up double figures. Dwyane Wade found some rhythm when he drilled a tough three pointer, and from there, he found a stride that he hadn't had the entire series. No longer was everyone making excuses for Wade, who with James, scored 48 of Miami's next 50 points. It's incredible the abilities of these two players to score the basketball, but as the Heat came back in the third quarter, they did so behind baskets in the paint and getting to the free throw line.

Indiana didn't respond well to the Heat opening the game up, a clear advantage for them, but credit has to go to the Heat front line for holding strong defensively to not allow Roy Hibbert or David West to get involved before the two were eventually scrapped with foul trouble. Hansbrough did work early, but was a disaster in terms of fouls and turnovers in the second half, and while paired up with Lou Amundson, well, it's not the front court that had torched Miami through the two wins.

James and Wade dominated the Pacers in the third quarter as Indiana suffered through one and outs, poor defensive rotations, and some light foul trouble, but for really the first time in the series, Miami appeared to be the aggressors, not only on the offensive side, but the defensive side. Before you could blink, the 8-point halftime lead turned into a 10-point deficit, Miami's first double digit lead in the series as Miami Pacer'd the Pacers in the third quarter to win 30-16.

Despite the struggles, Indiana still had plenty of opportunities in the fourth quarter, but the defense simply wouldn't hold up. With Leandro Barbosa on the floor, the Pacers were really hampered defensively, but even when it wasn't Barbosa letting up a basket, it was an offensive rebound to allow a second chance. As the fourth quarter wore on and the Pacers responded positively to Miami runs, it was always about the stops they couldn't get. When the starters returned, turnovers had been an issue to the point where they couldn't get enough shots, and when they did get shots, they were one and done on every possession.

Danny Granger and Paul George had solid games defensively for how many points Wade and James had, but with the two dominating the ball so much, each crease in their defensive was exploited far more. The game was ultimately decided when West was rotated over to help double team James, leaving Udonis Haslem, who came back from the dead to hit the jumpers Chris Bosh was automatic with. In the end, it was Haslem's open looks that decided the game for the Heat, who came out ahead to tie the series at 2 games apiece.

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Regardless of the reason du jour, the Miami have not played as expected against the Indiana Pacers. There has been far more finger pointing than will imposing by the high-powered Heat stars, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Now down 2-1 in the series, Miami is past gut-check time and into pride-check time. If James and Wade can rise up together with a big performance, everything for the Heat will be back on stable ground with the series even and headed back to Miami for Game 5.

That's where playoff experience comes into play. The next game can change everything. As you'll see in the reports from practice yesterday, the Pacers are expecting nothing less than a motivated and fully healthy Heat team fighting for their collective playoff lives. In a few hours, the Pacers and Heat will have 48 minutes to fight for control of this series and it should be a blast.

Check out the links after the jump.

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Who said a team's chances were set in stone? The folks at Bovada have released updated betting odds for the Indiana Pacers/Miami Heat and their chances of coming out of the Eastern Conference to hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy. While no doubt the injury to Chris Bosh plays a big role in Miami fading a bit in the odds department, the Pacers of course deserve plenty of credit themselves for putting themselves in good shape in the series after three games.

The odds were updated on May 18th, now giving the San Antonio Spurs (3/1 odds as of May 14th) the best odds to win the championship (at 7/4) while the Heat (11/10) drops from the top to third with 10/3 odds. The Indiana Pacers have seen the biggest jump in favorable odds, moving from 14/1 odds to win the Eastern Conference all the way up to 3/1 odds. The Pacers, once seventh out of the remaining eight teams at chances of winning it all (at 60/1 odds), move ahead of the Lakers and Clippers to now find themselves with 12/1 odds.

The Heat are still favored to come out of the East at 5/4 with Boston behind them at 2/1. Regardless, the way the series has taken shape over the past week has given the Indiana Pacers far better odds than they had a week ago. It's of course up to them to continue to push forward and hold home court in Game 4.

After the jump are the full team odds updated as of May 18th:

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Of all things to get a skyrocket in publicity coming out of the Indiana Pacers' 94-75 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday, Lance Stephenson's choke sign directed at LeBron James following a missed technical foul shot is perhaps the most ridiculous. So of course, when the discussion wheel on how the Miami Heat are in trouble starts to wear a little thin, the spin directed back to Lance for the gesture, because it'd be even more ridiculous to talk about the Pacers and how they play basketball when it's not a prelude to what the Heat are doing wrong.

Look, should Lance Stephenson had made the sign? Eh...probably not. But was it really the transgression it's being made out to be? Eh...probably not. Regardless, the whole matter reached a tidy resolution when Lance Stephenson apologized for the action, saying "I was wrong and disrespectful to my teammates, the Miami Heat, and their organization" in an apology that didn't really need to be made, but still a nice gesture as Frank Vogel closed up shop by backing up Stephenson's apology.

So why does it suddenly become text message inbox material again when LeBron James responds by saying, "You want a quote about Lance Stephenson? I'm not even giving him the time." It's not like he's wrong. Why should James care about Stephenson or what Stephenson did on the bench? The belligerent tagline on ESPN's front page, pumping up the response with "LeBron scoffs at Stephenson," is the real story within this whole non-story.

James gets killed by the media more than he should. There are times he deserves what he gets, there are a lot of times he doesn't. This is one of the times when James says the perfect thing. It was the momentary response by this Pacers team biggest fan, one that should be shrugged off and forgotten about. Instead of dissecting the quote as James "disrespecting" Lance, dissect the quote as what it is: nothing to see here, move along, move along.

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade went in search of a coach he didn't want to yell at on his off day Friday which led him to his old college coach Tom Crean down in Bloomington. The IU coach and Heat star teamed up at Marquette to make a run to the Final Four, although if you gave them both truth serum they quickly admit Travis Diener was the real reason for that team's success.

According to Vigilante Sports, Wade shook of his 2 for 13 night and lingering leg injuries to make the hour drive to B-Town. From the picture in this tweet, it appears Wade is not overly concerned with resting his leg, although the pair did tool around campus on a golf cart. Regardless, I expect we should see a much better effort in Game 4 on Sunday afternoon.

We had a couple surprise guests at tonight's Assembly Hall sponsor event. Thx Coach and D Wade. twitter.com/roblouthain/st…

— Rob Louthain (@roblouthain) May 19, 2012

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The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers took advantage of their two full days off between emotional playoff games, electing to rest and recharge on Friday instead of hitting the court for practice.

Meanwhile, as you'll see in the links, much of the media world is wondering what is wrong with Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat in general. The funny thing is that few are glancing in the corner at a plausible reason for all of the drama surrounding the Heat -- the Indiana Pacers.

It seems like the Pacers have embraced their role of catching breaks and winning games. The team seems to take comfort in knowing they are better prepared and playing better than their opponent even if others want to line up excuses for the playoff run.

At this point, no sense disrupting a good thing. Hopefully, D-Wade's leg injury can recover for Game 4 so he can show that burst of athleticism again. You know, like he did all the way back in Game 2 when he chased down Darren Collison and shoved him to the ground. That was impressive.

Check out the links after the jump.

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