Pacers stay alive with 93-90 Game 5 win against Heat

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Paul George scored 31 of his 37 points in the second half Wednesday night and almost single-handedly kept the Indiana Pacers alive in the Eastern Conference finals with a 93-90 victory against the Miami Heat.

The Pacers still trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 will be played Friday night in Miami.

It took a frantic effort just to extend the series, even with the foul-plagued LeBron James held to just seven points in 23 minutes. Chris Bosh led the Heat with 20 points missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

Indiana turned a 50-41 deficit into a 64-57 lead after three, then led by as much as 11 in the fourth. But Miami's last-ditch rally made it 91-90 with 16 seconds to go before Indiana held on.

Miami failed to clinch its fourth straight Eastern Conference title.

The Pacers played like a desperate team trying to save their season. They chased shooters all over the floor, ran down loose balls, even put themselves in harm's way. Lance Stephenson appeared to hurt his left shoulder in the third quarter after a hard fall and still finished the game.

But hard falls and tough plays were a theme all night for a team that had been roundly criticized for its lack of effort in Monday night's loss.

"We just played. Our backs are against the wall right now so that's all we can do," George said.