David West News

Although it was in a season where some of the Easern Conference elite were struggling through injuries, the Indiana Pacers emerged as a threat in the powerful top half of the East.

Beating the Pacers without Chris Bosh took six games and a chunk of flesh from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who were superb yet also gassed.

The Indiana Pacers ' season ended suddenly, as it always does in the playoffs, after losing their third straight game to the Miami Heat , 105-93 on Thursday night.

So it's over. The sting of elimination lingers. But it was a great year. The fans were privileged to witness a group of guys who were not only great on the court, but just so damned easy to get behind and root for.

The Pacers just played a team that was missing its best big man. Well, in a sense, the Pacers didn't have theirs either.

Udonis Haslem insists he meant no harm. The NBA deemed otherwise, and the Miami Heat will be without one of their co-captains when they try to close out the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.

Percentages: FG .337, FT .739. 3-Point Goals: 6-21, .286 . Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 10 .

Fresh off back-to-back international summits, President Barack Obama is delivering the commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy, his annual speech to service academy graduates.

A Senate panel is reviewing Facebook's high-profile stock offering last week amid allegations that the bank handling the IPO may have provided select clients with a negative assessment of the company.

Each week, we'll ask our stable of scribes to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day - and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below.

Where are the hidden gems in the 2012 NBA draft? Who are the steals? Why are we still watching if the first round is done with? All of those questions arise on a year-by-year basis and fail to be answered until the regular season is truly in full swing.

LeBron James scored 30 points, Dwyane Wade added 28 and the Heat moved a victory from the league's final four with a 115-83 victory over the hurting Pacers on Tuesday.

Elvis Andrus lined a two-strike pitch into the left-center field gap for a two-run triple, Josh Hamilton made two tremendous catches in center field and added an RBI double, and the Texas Rangers snapped Seattle's win... Elvis Andrus lined a two-strike pitch into the left-center field gap for a two-run triple, Josh Hamilton made two tremendous ... (more)

MAY 22: LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat goes to the basket against the Indiana Pacers in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2012 NBA Playoffs on May 22, 2012 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.

After a convincing win in game 1, Miami failed late in game 2 and were trounced in game 3. A once in a half decade performance from James and the rebirth of Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem saw the Heat recover to tie the series in game 4, and this is where we now are.

Stat : With Tyler Hansbrough on the floor in the playoffs, the Miami Heat outscore the Indiana Pacers by 18.5 points per 48 minutes .

Coach Anthony Macri writes the weekly Coach's Notebook column for HOOPSWORLD and works with the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League, the first regional professional basketball league in South-East Asia.

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This should come as a surprise to no one, but if the Indiana Pacers try to match perimeter guns with the Miami Heat howitzers that are LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, they will lose this series.

So now what do we do? Should we say that this was "just Game 4" and "just the second round," and downplay LeBron James' one-man obliteration of the Pacers? Should we say he is lucky he didn't have to hit a game-winning shot? Should we play the Fun With Stats game and point out the Heat only outscored the Pacers by four points with LeBron on the ... (more)