Bob Kravitz: Pacers win a game they had to have

They overcame LeBron James, who was what he always is -- the best player in the world. They overcame a monumentally foolish, utterly immature technical on Lance Stephenson, who got ejected and missed the last five minutes of the game. They overcame 37 percent shooting, and the fact they made Roy Hibbert, so dominant in the first quarter, disappear by ignoring him in the second half.

On a night when they absolutely, positively had to beat the Miami Heat, the Pacers earned the most important victory of the season, winning 84-83. (And oh, by the way, they won the Central Division for the second year in a row).

Don't believe people when they say there are no must-wins in the regular season. This was a must-win for the Pacers, who were looking at having their Eastern Conference lead trimmed to one game, with Miami enjoying a much softer remaining schedule than the Pacers. This was, quite simply, the most important game of the regular season, the Pacers most important regular-season game in many years.

This doesn't mean the No. 1 seed is sewn up, but with the victory, the Pacers put themselves in a pretty secure spot. They are now three games ahead of the Heat, but essentially that number is four games, with the Pacers holding the tiebreaker in conference record.

"Seeding is important but how you're playing heading into the playoffs is more important,'' Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "…We've been dominant at home (33-4); that's why we want home-court advantage.''

What did it mean?

It meant everything, at least to the Pacers, who have been very vocal about earning the No. 1 spot. Lose this game? They would have been doomed. They would have lost the No. 1 seed (eventually), would have lost home-court advantage against their likely Eastern Conference foes, the Heat, and would have blown their best chance to get to the NBA Finals.

This isn't to suggest the Pacers have emerged from their funk, not completely. We've made that mistake before, viewing last week's home victory over Chicago as some kind of transformative moment. Then they lost two straight on the road and looked awful in the process. The Pacers still have to take care of business with six of 10 remaining games on the road, with two of those home games against the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But this should suffice as a much-needed kick in the behind.

"This is a game that will hopefully help us get back on track,'' Paul George said. "It's one game. … But this is one step closer to playing good basketball to end this year up. We've got to play big against this team (the Heat). This is a dominant team. The way our team is set up, we play inside- out and play through our post. I just thought we did a great job to start the game of getting Roy going. As you've seen, he can affect both sides of the basketball when he's going.''

They can't blow it now, can they?

Down the stretch, they covered for one another on both ends of the court, and specifically covered for Stephenson, who might have committed the dumbest technical foul in recent history. When he grows up, drop me a text. He should be beyond this now, should be beyond mean-mugging and jawing at Dwyane Wade after a made basket that put the Pacers ahead four points and gave them some momentum.

"He's just got to mature,'' David West said of Stephenson. "He's got to put his big boy pants on.''

To his credit, Stephenson acknowledged his mistake after the game. "I let my teammates down by doing that,'' he said. "I was wrong.''

His replacement, Evan Turner, looked overmatched during his early time on the court, but came in for Stephenson and gave the Pacers the most valuable minutes of his tenure in Indianapolis. Turner scored two baskets and played the kind of defense that's been lacking since his arrival.

Then came the where-did-that-come-from desperation three-pointer from West, and the Pacers were ahead 84-80 left.

Chris Bosh hit a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game, and the Pacers re-opened the door when George Hill missed two free throws with 2.9 seconds left. But with Hibbert on the floor – just thought we should mention that – the Pacers double-teamed James, forced the ball out of his hands, then watched Bosh's deep perimeter shot catch nothing but air.

Lance, you're welcome.

Two heavyweights, circling each other all season, throwing haymakers with bad intentions. There was Stephenson and Wade in each other's face in the first half. There was Luis Scola's hard foul on James. There was James' elbow to Hibbert's face on a drive, leaving the big man with a bloody mouth. There was Stephenson's silly taunting of Wade.

After the game, the Heat were angry about the hard fouls and the lack of calls, even though they had 29 free throws to the Pacers' 21.

"We got punched in the face and clotheslined out there,'' Bosh said. "…I don't feel they were going for the ball in plenty of situations.''

One out of 82?

Hardly.

It was May, even if the calendar said otherwise.

"Only one thing should matter to the Pacers: getting that seventh game against Miami on their home court,'' ESPN analyst and former Pacer Jalen Rose said the day before the game. "Because that's where we're going. The Bulls are a terrific story, the Brooklyn Nets are getting themselves together, but when it's all said and done, this is still a two-team race.

"…One of worst things that happened to both teams is neither of those teams is being pushed by the rest of the Eastern Conference. Miami doesn't have to win 66 games this year. I don't have concerns about either team at this point. The important thing is who gets the No. 1 spot.''

On Wednesday night, they pushed one another, just as they've been pushing one another all season, and it was classic. Whet your appetite for more? Wait a month or so. These two will meet again. And Game 7 will likely be in Indy this time.

Bob Kravitz is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. Call him at (317) 444-6643 or email bob.kravitz@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BKravitz.