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INDIANAPOLIS -- Roy Hibbert threw all the inside body jabs Tuesday night. Paul George finished it off with the knockout blow. Together, the Pacers devastating one-two scoring punch did it again to the champs. Hibbert finished with 24 points, George made two big 3-pointers during a 15-point second half scoring spree and Indiana rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take Round 1 against Miami 90-84. "It was fun, a real intense game," George said. "Both teams were playing at a high level. You could see an urgency to win this game tonight." While Indiana extended its franchise-record home start to a perfect 10-0 and took a three-game advantage over Miami in the early chase for home-court advantage, this was no ordinary regular season game. During pregame media availability, Indianas Lance Stephenson said this game felt like a championship matchup. Two of Miamis big three, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, tried to downplay that sort of talk by explaining this was not a win or go home night. The hometown fans didnt care what the Heat thought. They were already in post-season form, booing loudly at the officials, chanting "Hes a flopper" on some contestable foul calls and eventually serenading Miami players with those familiar chants of "Beat the Heat." But the Pacers (19-3) also understood this was only be the start of a season-long quest that could pit the two best teams in the East in the conference finals for a second straight year. First, theres the rematch in Miami on Dec. 18. They wont meet again until March 26 in Indy, then head back to Miami on April 11 before what most expect to be a third straight meeting in the playoffs. If those games have as much intrigue and pizazz as Tuesday nights showdown, they may be the most compelling all season. And the Pacers cant wait to show how much they can improve -- even on a win over the two-time champs and four-time MVP LeBron James. "Its just one game," Hibbert said. "Were going to learn from it. Its a learning experience. Its still early in the season. We have a lot more work to do." To the average fan, it looked a lot like last seasons playoff series, which Miami won in seven games. Hibbert dominated the middle, scoring nine of Indianas first 11 points and making a season-high 10 baskets -- most from point-blank range -- despite playing in the second half with cotton in his nose. David West added 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists including a left-handed 4-foot runner that gave Indiana an 88-81 lead with 38.9 seconds to go. James defence and Miamis physical double-teams frustrated George most of the night, but when George finally got free late, he made three big 3-pointers s to help the Pacers pull away. George, the NBAs No. 4 scorer, finished with 17 points, three rebounds and four assists. "I knew it was going to be a night when I was going to explode offensively," George said. "I knew I had to move the ball and share it." Chasing George all night apparently took a toll on James and the Heat (16-6). While James, the leagues No. 2 scorer did get 17 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, he was just 3 of 11 from the field with nine points over the final 36 minutes -- three quarters when Miami failed to top the 20-point mark and had five turnovers. Wade also finished with 17 points, while Bosh added 12. It was Miamis third loss in five games. "I thought we brought it tonight," James said. "We know theyre a very good defensive team. I thought they hit some tough shots and they attacked the rim real well but even though they had us down by 10 rebounds, I thought we rebounded well and we battled." Aside from the slow start, the Pacers couldnt have produced a better script. After Miami took a 13-pont lead midway through the second quarter, Indiana charged back to get within 47-40 at halftime. Indiana then opened the third quarter with back-to-back baskets to close the deficit to four. The Pacers finally tied it at 55 on George Hills 3 with 8:15 to go in the third, and Hibbert gave the Pacers their first lead, 58-57, on a three-point play 2 minutes later. George helped keep the Heat at arms length after finally making his first basket with 3:51 left in the third, and Miami never tied the score or regained the lead. "Anytime you get into this kind of a slugfest with them, where youre down six to eight points, it feels like its a 20-point lead," Bosh said. "We know theyre a good team. We know what their goals are, we know what our goals are, we want to keep building to be a complete team for the spring." NOTES: Singer Justin Timberlake, Jim Courier and Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles were among the familiar faces in the crowd Tuesday night. ... David West recorded his 5,000th career rebound in the first quarter. ... Indiana had a season-high 21 turnovers. ... Miami shot just 42.9 per cent from the field and was a dismal 4 of 21 from 3-point range, scoring just 54 points over the final three quarters. ... The Pacers improved to 10-2 this season when trailing at halftime. Cheap Salomon Shoes . Quarterback Drew Willy appeared to injure his throwing hand on the third last play of practice Thursday. Discount Salomon Shoes Online .Y. - Brooklyn Nets centre Brook Lopez has a strained lower back and will miss at least a week. http://www.salomoncheap.com/ . In the opening game of his fourth-round match at the U.S. Open, the owner of 17 major titles got passed at the net twice, sailed a backhand long, then missed two forehands to get broken. Cheap Salomon Shoes Free Shipping .com) - Minnesota Vikings fans would surely concede Teddy Bridgewater is not Peyton Manning. Cheap Salomon Shoes From China . Just ask last seasons Supporters Shield winners, the New York Red Bulls, who were resoundingly defeated last weekend by a rampant Vancouver Whitecaps in a match which produced two contenders for MLS Goal of the Week from Sebastian Fernandez and Pedro Morales. NEW ORLEANS -- Greivis Vasquez drew a round of applause when he first checked in against the team for which he played the past two seasons. Later, he all but silenced the New Orleans crowd with five straight points that gave his new team the lead for good inside the final two minutes. DeMar DeRozan scored 31 points, Vasquez finished with 14, and the Toronto Raptors snapped a two-game skid with a resilient 107-100 victory over the Pelicans on Wednesday night. "I was blessed enough to be out there at the end of the game," said Vasquez, who was traded by New Orleans after last season in a deal that brought Tyreke Evans to the Pelicans. "I had a really rough first half and then the second half I was just on a mission," Vasquez said. "I like close games, man. Im not afraid. I would never be afraid. Im the type of player that would risk everything. Thats how I got (the starting point guard) job here in New Orleans." Kyle Lowry scored 23, Amir Johnson added 17 and Vasquez finished with 14 to help Toronto overcome a 14-point first-half deficit and snap a two-game skid. Tyler Hansbrough, playing additional minutes with starting centre Jonas Valanciunas sidelined by a sore back, grabbed 13 rebounds, seven on the offensive end. "Thats psycho-T at his finest," DeRozan said of Hansbrough. "He went out there, played extremely hard, got rebounds and came up with some big rebounds late in the game. Thats just him." The game was tied at 94 when Vasquez scored five straight points in a 36-second span on a running floater and a driving layup as he was fouled -- the latter coming after Vasquez rebounded his missed jumper for one of Torontos 22 offensive rebounds. "Its cool to have a teammate like that because you see how much he wanted it," DeRozan said of Vasquez. "Thats why we call him Spicy. You never know what youre going to get until you eat it." Al-Farouq Aminu had 19 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which was without All-Star Anthony Davis because of an illness. The Pelicans could not deny that Davis absence, one game after his career-high 40 points and 21 rebounds in Sundays overtime win over Boston, was a factor..dddddddddddd "Obviously, with a guy that can rebound like Anthony, its hard to make up for that," rookie centre Jeff Withey said. Evans had 18 points for the Pelicans. Eric Gordon added 15, but was shut out in the second half, when his playing time was limited after he was called for his fourth foul in the middle of the third quarter. "Once he got in foul trouble ... I think that probably broke his rhythm," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. Brian Roberts scored 11 points, while Alexis Ajinca and Austin Rivers each had 10 to keep New Orleans in front for most of the game. New Orleans led 94-90 on Witheys free throw with 4:26 left. But during the next 50 seconds, Johnson slammed home a putback dunk and followed that with a driving layup as the shot clock expired to tie it at 94. Next came Vasquezs five straight points, followed by Lowrys free throw and Johnsons tip shot to cap a 12-1 run from which New Orleans never recovered. "We played decent defence, forced them to miss and they got rebound after rebound," Williams said. "We missed a lot of shots, layups in the paint, but the rebounding tonight was not good at all." Gordon, Aminu (12 points) and Evans (10 points) all reached double figures in the first half, much of which was controlled by New Orleans. The Pelicans seemed to surprise the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors by racing to an early double-digit lead. Rivers driving layup gave New Orleans a 31-18 lead late in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the lead reached 14 points several times, the last on Aminus layup that made it 50-36. At that point, there was 5:20 left in the second quarter, which was about all the time Toronto needed to nearly pull even. The Raptors outscored the Pelicans 20-7 to close the half. DeRozan scored nine during the stint, including a three-point play on a driving layup and a 12-foot fade at the halftime horn that made it 57-56. NOTES: The Pelicans went 3-3 on their six-game home stand. New Orleans next plays at Atlanta on Friday, then hosts Miami on Saturday to open a four-game home stand. ... The Raptors have not lost three straight since making a seven-player trade with Sacramento on Dec. 9. ' ' '