Heat send Pacers to 7th straight loss ... barely

MIAMI – All the elements of the Indiana Pacers' identity returned on Friday night.

The grit, the defense, and the rage only an underdog carries – these characteristics might have been hard to find over the past few weeks, but reappeared inside AmericanAirlines Arena.

At least, for a half.

After bumbling along through the first portion of the game against the Miami Heat, Indiana refocused and sparked a light that revealed their old selves. However, the Pacers had a shot to send the Heat into overtime – and missed it on C.J. Watson's in-and-out baseline jumper at the buzzer.

The Heat survived with the 89-87 win, though the Pacers recuperated from a deficit that had grown to 21 points late in the second quarter.

George Hill, who played in his first game since Dec. 31 after dealing with a left groin strain, scored 13 points in 20 minutes off the bench. The return of Hill coincided with a renaissance of the team's smash-mouth character. However, even as the Pacers defended Miami into only 14 points through the fourth quarter, the effort did not do enough to curb the poor play from earlier in the game and the Pacers (15-30) lost their seventh straight.

"Problem is," Luis Scola noted, "when you go down that much early, it has to be the perfect storm. Sometimes it happens, but more often than not, you end up losing the game."

"The truth is, we lost. The truth is we (were) behind. The truth is, we need to win games," Scola continued. "Although we have to be happy for a lot of good things we did in the second half, we just got to find a way not to be in that situation where we have to make that huge comeback."

After looking constricted within the offense that produced 14 first-half turnovers, the Pacers cleaned up and only committed four more the rest of the game, giving themselves an opportunity to force the second overtime game of this current road trip.

With less than five seconds to play and Hill assuming his normal role as lead point guard, he drew two defenders in the lane before finding Watson open in the corner. However, Watson had to take one dribble in from the 3-point line and his potential game-tying shot rimmed out. About as an anti-climatic moment the Pacers could get after outscoring the Heat 50-35 through the second half.

"We were very displeased with how we played in the first half," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "I challenged them early on to get a little angry and we did."

That anger showed in many ways. During an 11-2 run that stretched until less than a minute remained in the game, the Pacers trailed only 86-85. David West received a pass near the baseline and also took a bump from Chris Andersen that threw him off balance. But as West tripped out of bounds, he lost the ball without a peep from an official.

The Pacers furiously protested. Assistant coach Nate McMillan sprang from his seat. Vogel stomped over the sideline but the play continued and the Heat went down to the other end. Mario Chalmers capped the possession by driving the lane and tossing in a difficult layup for the 88-85 lead.

Instead of further pushing the issue and earning his second technical foul of the game and automatic ejection, Vogel called timeout and moved on. However, after the game, Vogel could be seen huddling over a laptop inside the locker room, clearly unhappy while watching a replay of West falling toward the sideline after contact. That moment, as well as another that involved Hill absorbing contact from Wade on a 3-point attempt with late in the game, added to the list of bad breaks that stymied the Pacers' late run. As in previous instances, the Pacers sent video of the plays in question to the league for review after the game.

Even so, Hill did not pin the problems on the non-calls. In his eyes, the Pacers need to look no further than their two very different halves.

"It's clear, (if) we don't play with that same sense of urgency and intensity, we're never going to be in the game and I think that's what changed in the second half," Hill said. "Coming out with some sense of urgency, coming out with some sense of direction to get up in guys and play the Indiana basketball we normally play in the last couple of years and that's what built this team. When we shy away from that, we're not good at all."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.