Heat pull away late in Game 2 to even series against Pacers

Lance Stephenson may have been Born Ready for Game 2 on Tuesday night, but the rest of the Indiana Pacers weren't able to answer the call in the fourth quarter as the Miami Heat pulled away to win the game 87-83 and even the series at a game apiece.

For a while, Game 2 resembled Game 1 quite closely - the Pacers had a major rebounding edge, the Heat couldn't gain an edge from downtown or at the free throw line, and a balanced Indiana offensive attack was doing just enough to outpace Miami's top-heavy approach. The Pacers led 63-62 after three quarters and briefly extended that lead in the fourth.

Cue LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, the former of whom had played one of the least impressive games we've seen from him in some time to that point. In the fourth, James scored 12 points with two assists while Wade had 10 points with two assists. The number of Heat baskets in the game's final 16 minutes where neither was involved? Try zero.

Star Performer

Believe it or not, it wasn't James (22 points, seven rebounds, six assists) or Wade (23 points, five rebounds, five assists) or even Chris Andersen (three points, 12 rebounds, inexplicable +25 in 29 minutes) who did the most damage in this one. 

No, instead it was Stephenson, who had 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting with six rebounds and six assists. He was unbelievable, and is now in sole possession of all of Basketball Twitter. Sadly, Stephenson suffered a death by flopping. More on him shortly.

Jokes about flopping aside, Stephenson actually did look like he injured himself in a collision with Wade on the game's final play.

Other Star Performer

After missing the team's Game 1 victory, Evan Turner returned to the Pacers for Game 2. As always, blame Evan Turner.

Turning Point

With 5:33 to play in the fourth quarter, the Pacers led 75-72. Over the next four minutes, however, the Heat defense found it's groove and completely locked the Pacers down, reeling off a 10-0 run over 3:35 of play. James had six points, Wade had four, and the Pacers had zero. From there, Indiana just couldn't close that seven-point gap, even with the aid of two late offensive rebounds.

Highlight Reel

So, Lance Stephenson. Back to him. It started at the buzzer to end the first half:

It continued in the third:

Of course, he had some help:

While we're on David West, he fouled James pretty hard in the fourth, though the flagrant foul call was later reversed.

That wasn't the only scary moment, as Wade's knee and Paul George's head were both in a precarious position late, too:

Wade found the strength to close it out:

Quotes of the Game

"Lance Stephenson's straight ballin' right now" - Jeff Van Gundy, third quarter

JVG actually said that. Can you blame him?

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: Saturday, May 24 - 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 4: Monday, May 26 - 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 5*: Wednesday, May 28 - TBD
Game 6*: Friday, May 20 - TBD
Game 7*: Sunday, June 1 - TBD