Pacers hold off Heat in Game 5 thriller thanks to Paul George's 21-point 4th quarter

The Indiana Pacers will live to see another day.

In a game that had more than its fair share of bizarre moments, the Pacers avoided a late collapse against the Miami Heat to take Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals 93-90.

After jumping out to an early lead, Indiana then collapsed in the second quarter, dropping only 11 points as the Heat surged ahead to carry a nine-point lead into the interval. 

Once the third quarter got underway, the Pacers responded by putting on one of their most impressive offensive performances of the season, making the most of each possession while holding the Heat to only 15 points.

Enter Paul George, who had 16 points through the first three frames and proceeded to drop 21 points in the fourth quarter to finish the night with a scoring total of 37.

But his phenomenal output was nearly all in vain as the Heat clawed back in the final minutes and would likely have advanced to the Eastern Conference finals had Chris Bosh not missed a three-pointer from the corner with four seconds remaining.

A big talking point was the foul trouble that limited LeBron James to a season-low seven points through a season-low 24 minutes. Considering Paul George's post 

It was also the first time in James' career that he had more combined turnovers and fouls (eight) than points. 

Star Performer

Thirty-seven points on 15-of-28 shooting, six rebounds, six steals, and two assists.

If it weren't for George, the Pacers' season could very well be over right now.

None of George's three-pointers were bigger than the one he hit with 46.7 left to increase the Pacers' lead to four.

Turning Point

After a disastrous second quarter where they were held to 11 points for only the sixth time this season, the Pacers responded in the third quarter by outscoring the Heat 31-15.

It was arguably the Pacers' most impressive offensive performance of the season, and it provided them with the cushion they needed to hold off the Heat towards the end of the contest.

Highlight Reel

Before the game got underway, Lance Stephenson hit a ridiculous backwards three-pointer from the corner.

Once the game got underway, it took only 54 seconds for LeBron to open up the scoring by throwing down a precision alley-oop pass from Mario Chalmers.

George capped off a 10-point performance in the third quarter by hitting a three-pointer in the buzzer. Of course, it helped that he dropped Chalmers before the shot.

Despite one of the worst performances of his career, James did post a massive chase-down block on Hill in the fourth quarter.

Throughout all the drama were a number of bizarre moments that you don't normally see in an NBA game.

There was Stephenson eavesdropping on a huddle between Erik Spoelstra and Norris Cole.

And perhaps weirder than anything was Stephenson then blowing into LeBron's ear during the fourth quarter.

Quote of the Game

When asked if he'd ever thought about blowing into someone's ear as a defensive tactic, James provided the perfect answer:

"I blew in my wife's ear before," he said. "That was definitely a defensive tactic."

Series at a Glance

Game 1: IND 107, MIA 96 (Pacers lead series 1-0)
Game 2: MIA 87, IND 83 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: MIA 99, IND 87 (Heat lead series 2-1)
Game 4: MIA 102, IND 90 (Heat lead series 3-1)
Game 5: IND 93 MIA 90 (Heat lead series 3-2)
Game 6: Friday, May 20 - TBD
Game 7*: Sunday, June 1 - TBD