INDIANAPOLIS -- Paul George went into desperation mode to salvage the Pacers season. It was barely good enough. The 24-year-old All-Star scored 21 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter and inspired Indiana to fend off Miamis late challenges as the Pacers staved off playoff elimination with a 93-90 Game 5 victory on Wednesday night. "My message to the whole team was the light needs to be on green for all of us," coach Frank Vogel said. "You need to go, you need to attack, you need to be aggressive. Paul took it and ran with it and took it to a crazy level." The most crucial shooting performance of Georges career allowed the Pacers to climb within 3-2 in the Eastern Conference finals and postponed Miamis fourth straight coronation as conference champs. Game 6 is Friday in Miami. It took everything in Georges repertoire to get it done. He was 12 of 19 from the field in the second half, finished with six rebounds, six steals, five 3-pointers and only three turnovers in 45 minutes. But the Pacers also needed everything else to go right. Four-time MVP LeBron James was limited to 24 1/2 minutes because of major foul trouble. He finished with a career playoff-low seven points, two rebounds and four assists. The Heat committed 17 turnovers, compared to just 13 for the usually turnover-prone Pacers, and Indiana had a 45-38 rebounding edge, too. The biggest difference was George, whose 21 fourth-quarter points were the most scored against Miami in any playoff quarter. The previous record, 20, was set by Michael Jordan in May 1997. "I just felt it. I felt in rhythm. I had to be aggressive," George said. "I tried to come out and be aggressive to start this game off and I was getting looks. I got hot." George fell just short of his playoff career high, the 39 he had in Game 4 against Washington in the previous series, and was just four points short of Reggie Millers franchise record in an NBA playoff game. For Miami, it was a rare stumble in an elimination game in the Big Three era. Three other times, the Heat had lost Game 1 on the road and all three times they won the next four games to close out the series. The Heat were in position to do it again Wednesday even with James limitations. Chris Bosh scored 20 points, Dwyane Wade and Rashard Lewis each had 18, and the Heat made 15 of 31 3-pointers to stay within clinching distance. After holding the Pacers to 11 points in the second quarter, only 33 in the first half and surviving two long first-half stretches without James, the Heat couldnt hold off the Pacers when James went to the bench again with his fifth foul early in the third quarter. Yet, the Heat still had a chance to take the lead with 4.9 seconds left. But Boshs 3-pointer was off the mark and the Pacers grabbed the rebound. "We still had enough opportunities to come away with a win," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We just couldnt get over the hump." Hard falls and tough plays were a theme all night for a Pacers team that had been roundly criticized for its lack of effort in Monday nights loss. Lance Stephenson took it a step farther. At one point, he attempted to listen in on one of Miamis huddle. At another, he blew in James ear. "Im just here to play basketball, man. All the extracurricular activities, I dont really get into," James said. "Im just trying to win. We need one more win to get to the finals. Thats my only concern. All the extra stuff, whatever Lance wants to do, I dont really care about that." It looked like the Heat might clinch their fourth straight conference title Wednesday, something last done by the Celtics from 1984-87, when the Pacers trailed 50-41 with 6:56 left in the third quarter. Then George took over. He started an 11-0 run with a layup and ended it with a steal that he turned into a dunk to give the Pacers a 52-50 lead. Miami quickly tied it on Udonis Haslems layup, but George answered with a 3-pointer that sent the Pacers on a 12-5 run to make it 64-57 after three. Indiana extended the lead to as much as 77-66 early in the fourth on another George dunk, but when James re-entered, things changed. The Heat scored nine straight to make it 77-75, tied it at 81 on James only 3 of the night with 3:51 to play and twice managed to get within one in the final 76 seconds. George then hit a 3 and West made 1 of 2 free throws in the closing seconds to seal it. Notes: James scored in single digits for the first time since finishing with eight against Dallas on June 7, 2011. Hes only scored in single digits 10 times in his career. ... Roy Hibbert, who had only five rebounds in Game 4, had five in the first seven minutes Wednesday and finished with 13. ... Miami shot 45.3 per cent from the field, the first time its been under 50 per cent in the series. ... The Pacers were 13 of 22 from the free-throw line while Miami was 7 of 8. Zach Collins Blazers Jersey . Brooks replaces right-hander Yordano Ventura, who left his last outing with a sore elbow. Ventura is expected to miss one start. Brooks has made one relief appearance for the Royals this season, allowing six runs in two innings in a May 3 loss to Detroit. Brandon Roy Jersey .C. -- Al Jefferson said he feels like hes playing the best basketball of his 10-year NBA career. http://www.blazersteamofficial.com/customized/. The league-leading New York Rangers outhit and outmuscled the Maple Leafs during a 3-0 victory on Saturday. Backup goalie Martin Biron stopped all 20 shots he faced to complete a nice workmanlike effort by the visitors. Terry Porter Jersey . Alvarez hit his first career home run, pitched six innings and hurt his right hamstring while running the bases in the Miami Marlins 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs. Clyde Drexler Blazers Jersey . The Raptors have to get through the pesky New York Knicks Wednesday at Madison Square Garden and can lock up the third spot in the Eastern Conference with a win or a Chicago loss in Charlotte.Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - It wasnt pretty, but Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers grinded out a 93-90 win over the short- handed Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. Paul missed a pair of free throws that could have made it a three-point game with 13.8 seconds remaining, but he went to the ground to secure the rebound on Sebastian Telfairs miss at the other end and Griffin sank two from the stripe. It was 91-88 with 5.8 seconds left when LA fouled Nick Collison intentionally to prevent the Thunder from getting off a look from 3-point range. He hit two as well, then J.J. Redick restored the three-point margin with his pair with 2.8 seconds to play. Without any timeouts, Thunder center Steven Adams inbounded to Serge Ibaka near mid-court. Ibaka took two dribbles and lined up a deep triple, which missed short as the final buzzer sounded. Opening nights are tough. We won but we didnt play well, said Clippers head coach Doc Rivers. I didnt like our tempo. We have to play at a better pace. Griffin showed off an improved jumper on his way to 23 points and Paul tallied 22 with seven assists to edge out a Thunder unit that hardly resembled the team that took the Spurs to six games in the Western Conference finals after knocking the Clippers out of the playoffs a season ago. Reigning league MVP Kevin Durant had foot surgery and will miss the early portion of the season. The Thunder also traveled to Los Angles without guards Reggie Jackson, Jeremy Lamb and Anthony Morrow and rookie big man Mitch McGary. Russell Westbrook joined the walking wounded after leaving in the second quarter with a small fracture in his right haand.dddddddddddd Its unfortunate, the way it is right now but its the way it is, Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. We have to figure out how to continue to improve. Instead of Durant and Westbrook, who averaged a combined 53.8 points per game last season, it was third-year forward Perry Jones totaling a career-high 32 points to keep things competitive. Ibaka added 17 points and Telfair scored 11 with seven helpers off the bench. The Thunder started 4-for-4 from the field, with four different players hitting shots to stake the visitors an early 8-0 lead. Griffin settled down the Clippers with a pair of free throws, but Ibaka scored eight straight Thunder points to keep them in front. Paul split a pair at the line later in the period to make it 22-20. Again the Thunder responded, this time with four straight Jones free throws. OKC led 28-22 after one. Jamal Crawford heated up early the second, scoring nine of LAs first 14 points in the period. His triple at 7:46 gave the Clippers their first lead. Jones scored five straight late in the period to put the Thunder back in front, but LA scored eight of the final 10 points in the half to take a 46-41 lead into halftime. Oklahoma City locked down defensively in the second half to stay in the game and give itself a chance late. Game Notes This was the first regular season game for new Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who purchased the team for a record $2 billion this offseason ... Crawford scored 16 points off the bench ... OKC won the rebounding margin, 47-33, but more than doubled LAs turnovers, 27-12. ' ' '