“There’s a different kind of poise and composure required at home than there is on the road,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said before Game 3. “On the road, the crowd is going nuts when things aren’t going well. Here you want to go and your adrenaline is just going crazy because things are going well for you. That’s when you’ve got to maintain that poise. It’s a different kind of poise and composure.”
And the Heat clearly understand that difference.
“We’re a team who just bounces back from adversity,” James said. “We love the fact that they took the home court away from us, and now let’s see what we are made of. I think we know what we’re made of as well.”
What the Heat and Spurs are made of is a mental toughness that allows them to tune out the environment and the punditry and the noise and embrace the challenge of winning on the road in the postseason, which is what makes champions.
And if you think the Spurs will be content to mail in tonight’s game and come home and close out the Grizzlies in five, consider this from Parker, who has been destroying the spirit of contenders for more than a decade.
“I think that we should give them no hope.”
TRIVIA: Magic Johnson is the all-time playoff leader with 30 triple-doubles. Who is second? Answer below.
THE END OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT: Apparently trying to close the gap on noted name-fumbler and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee presented Warriors guard Stephen Curry with a key to the city and called him “Steve Curry.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, on his team remaining 
true to its identity:
“We can’t go changing and shaving and taking a bath when we haven’t taken one all along. You know, we all have been there. All you need is a little cute girl to say hello to you when you’re in junior high school and all of a sudden you’re trying to get your grandfather’s shaver and trying to shave and you’ve never shaved before in your life. I can’t go to school like that.”
LINE OF THE WEEK: LeBron James, Miami vs. Indiana, May 22: 47 minutes, 12-24 FGs, 2-6 3-pointers, 4-7 FTs, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, three blocks, four turnovers, 30 points in a 103-102 win. James’ game-winning driving layup at the buzzer gave him his fourth 30-10-10 game of the postseason since 2006. In the same span, no other player has had even one 30-10-10 game.
LINE OF THE WEAK: Norris Cole, Miami vs. Indiana, May 24: 19 minutes, 1-6 FGs, 1-3 3-pointers, 0-0 FTs, zero rebounds, zero assists, zero steals, one turnover, two fouls, three points in a 97-93 loss. The contributions Cole made against Chicago now seem light years away. He is shooting 20 percent with more turnovers (6) than assists (5) against Indiana.
TRILLION WATCH: With the number of games dwindling, there was not one player this week with as much as a 1 trillion until Sunday’s blowout in Indiana, which gave us Pacers guard Ben Hansbrough’s 3 trillion and Heat forward James Jones’ 2 trillion. Keyon Dooling of Memphis and Courtney Lee of Boston still hold the postseason lead with their 4 trillions.
GAME OF THE WEEK: Miami at Indiana, May 28. For two games, the size of the Pacers was enough to counter the speed of the Heat. Then Miami changed all that by putting LeBron James in the post and using Udonis Haslem as a mid-range shooter. Indiana has to quickly find another answer, or its season will be over.
TWO MINUTES: Yes, LeBron James had a pair of turnovers in the final minute of Game 2, which had all the haters quickly dismissing his buzzer-beater from Game 1 and reciting his previous playoff failings. Well, here are the numbers: Since James entered the NBA in 2003, he is an NBA-best 7-of-16 on tying or go-ahead baskets in the last 24 seconds of regulation or overtime in a playoff game. Kobe Bryant is 5-of-17 and Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitzki both are 5-of-12. … The Spurs opened Game 3 against the Grizzlies by going more than four minutes 
before scoring, falling behind by 18 points and finishing the first quarter with twice as many turnovers (8) as baskets. With 4:52 to go in the period, coach Gregg Popovich went all Park-and-Rec and subbed out his entire starting five. “It looked like those five guys had been asleep since Tuesday, and so we thought we might as well get five different bodies out there and at least start to compete and not be as sloppy as that group looked,” he said. “For whatever reason, I have no clue, but it was one of the worst starts I’ve ever seen.” … Through Monday, the roster of referees working games has been reduced from 24 for the conference semifinals to 17 for the conference finals. The seven who haven’t made the cut – thus far – are Sean Corbin, Jon Goble, David Guthrie, Rodney Mott, Bennett Salvatore, Tom Washington, Sean Wright and Gary Zielinski. Four referees – Tony Brothers, Scott Foster, Bill Kennedy and Monty McCutchen – already have worked two conference finals games and are virtual locks to be among the dozen chosen for the NBA Finals. … Since scoring a career-high 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting in the Game 6 clincher vs. New York, Pacers guard Lance Stephenson has scored 24 points on 8-of-32 shooting in three games vs. Miami. … Spurs guard Manu Ginobili turns 36 in July but is tired of the notion that he and teammates Tim Duncan (37) and Tony Parker (31) are getting on in years and not capable of winning another title. “It gets old,” he said. “We’ve been old for probably eight years now. I remember in 2007, our last championship, they were saying that we were old, and it’s all right. I guess we are.”
Trivia Answer: Jason Kidd with 11. … Happy 56th Birthday, Allen Leavell. … I’d like to know who are the three idiots who thought Raymond Felton was one of the six best guards in the league this season.
Chris Bernucca is the deputy editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Monday during the season. You can follow him on Twitter.