Pacers look to stay alive

MIAMI — Frank Vogel stood with his back against a wall, seeming perfectly comfortable.

He’s hoping his Pacers can do the same.

The Pacers’ season of great expectation is now in great trouble, with the Heat leading the Eastern Conference finals 31 heading into Game 5 at Indianapolis on Wednesday night. The Heat have won three straight in the series, and are now one win from ending the Pacers’ season for a third consecutive year.

“I think anytime you lose three in a row in the playoffs, it shakes your confidence some,” Vogel, the Pacers’ coach, said in a downtown Miami hotel lobby before his team headed to the airport Tuesday. “But we can’t worry about that. All we’ve got to worry about is coming back and winning Game 5 and giving us an opportunity to come down here and win one game.

“We’ve won one game in each playoff series that we’ve played here the last two years. We should have confidence that we can do that.”

It’s safe to wonder if confidence is in short supply, though, as the Pacers seem to be rattling.

Some Indiana issues in the last three games include: Floundering late to lose Game 2 at home, blowing a 15point lead at Miami in Game 3, Lance Stephenson calling LeBron James out before Game 4, Roy Hibbert failing to score a point Monday, and Paul George and David West both putting that loss on what they thought was onesided officiating.

“Homecooking,” George said.

Vogel said he wasn’t bothered by what George said, and declined to say if the Pacers would argue Game 4 officiating points with the league office. The league, however, had issues with George’s comments and fined the Pacers forward $25,000 on Tuesday for public criticism of the officiating.