The refs gave this game to the Pacers? Why, because LeBron James fouled out for the second time in 128 career playoff games? That’s a convenient excuse. Miami was called for just five more fouls than Indiana and only attempted six fewer free throws in the game. If you look a little deeper, Indiana reversed three key trends in this series and helped the team get an enormous 99-92 win in Tuesday night’s Game 4 to help even the Eastern Conference Finals.
1) Indiana protected the paint
If there was any area the Pacers had an advantage going into this series, it was in the frontcourt, in the interior. Roy Hibbert, David West and Paul George had to be forces inside and Indiana had to dominate rebounding and points in the paint. In Game 4, Indiana outscored Miami 50-32 in the paint and out-rebounded the Heat by a 49-30 count. Here’s how these two stats made a difference through the series’ first quartet of contests:
| Indiana | Paint Point Dif | Reb Dif | Outcome |
| Game 1 | -12 | 5 | L |
| Game 2 | 0 | 7 | W |
| Game 3 | -16 | 9 | L |
| Game 4 | 18 | 19 | W |
As long as Indiana kept even with Miami in the painted area, they won. Hibbert has certainly been a strong part of this defensive effort. ESPN Stats & Info points out that James has driven into the paint with Hibbert on the court 18 times, and only has five points on 1-for-3 shooting to show for it. So Hibbert has certainly become a rim protector and a deterrent to Miami’s drives into the lane. The Heat shot just 39 percent on Tuesday, and Indiana’s dominance down low was an important factor.
“That’s what the series is about, who can get to who and do it for longer periods of time. They kept us out of the paint,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’ll just have to do it better.”
Indiana wants Miami to shoot jumpers. Mario Chalmers took 14 shots on Tuesday, more than Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Chris Andersen and Shane Battier took combined, which the Pacers must have loved. Ray Allen became a volume shooter, taking 13 shots in part because of Indiana’s tighter defense inside.
2) Miami’s bigs were limited
It was really cramped this past weekend on the Birdman Andersen bandwagon, and for good reason. He hasn’t missed a shot all series and was a huge force off the bench. He was silent on Tuesday, not attempting a shot in 19 minutes after his nine-point, nine-rebound effort on Sunday. The clock also struck midnight for Haslem, who had just six points and two boards on Tuesday after his aberration in Game 3.
More importantly, Bosh was really limited on Tuesday. After averaging just over 16 points per game on 51.4 percent shooting over the first three games, Bosh scored just seven points on 1-for-6 shooting in 30 minutes and lamented Miami’s limits after the game.
“We had them right where we wanted them, but every time we would get a stop, especially in the fourth quarter, we didn’t come up with the rebound,” he said. “It was there for us, but we didn’t capitalize.”
3) Indiana’s guards showed up
Indiana’s starting frontcourt is getting most of the attention in this series, and for good reason, but don’t discount the impact George Hill and Lance Stephenson have on this series at both ends. The duo scored a combined 39 points in Game 4, one more than the pair’s total in both Pacer losses, as you’ll observe below:
| Pacers Backcourt | FG % | Points | Reb | Assists | Outcome |
| Game 1 | 21.1 | 12 | 16 | 10 | L |
| Game 2 | 50 | 28 | 13 | 8 | W |
| Game 3 | 35 | 26 | 2 | 4 | L |
| Game 4 | 46.4 | 39 | 10 | 8 | W |
In Indiana’s one-point overtime loss in Game 1, Hill and Stephenson shot terribly but made up for it with series-leading rebound and assist totals. When the guards shoot over 35 percent combined from the field, a seemingly pedestrian benchmark, the Pacers win. They came back strong after the veritable goose egg in Game 3 with a well-rounded night and a well-earned win.
“All those guys in there, they believe we can win,” Hibbert said. “No matter what all the analysts or whoever says anything, they count us out, those guys in the locker room were ready to play and we went out and played our hearts out.”
Rather than the refs “giving” the game away to Indiana, the Pacers actually earned the win with strong interior play and a yeoman’s effort from its starting guards. If these trends remain in the Pacers’ favor, Miami will have a lot to worry about during Thursday night’s all-important Game 5.
Shlomo Sprung loves advanced statistics and the way they explain what happens on the court. He is also the web editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, The Sporting News, Business Insider and other publications. His website is SprungOnSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter.