LOS ANGELES, 14 May 2004 — The Miami Heat needed a lift, and Lamar Odom was happy to step up.
Odom scored 10 of his 23 points in the decisive third quarter, sparking the Heat past the visiting Indiana Pacers, 100-88 on Wednesday night to level their Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-2.
“I had to find a way to help this team offensively,” said Odom, who hit nine-of-13 shots.
Butler had 21 points and 10 rebounds while Wade added 20 points and seven assists as Miami shot 51 percent from the floor (36-of-70) en route to its 18th consecutive home victory.
Though the Heat own a 6-0 playoff record at home, they are 0-5 on the road, with pivotal Game 5 at Indiana tomorrow.
All-Star forwards Jermaine O’Neal scored a career playoff high 37 points and Ron Artest added 28 to pace top seeded Indiana, which was outscored 47-32 in the second half.
Indiana has dominated its opponents so far in the playoffs, but they now find themselves in a battle with the Heat as they head home for Game 5. With O’Neal scoring 26 first-half points and Artest adding 16, the Pacers could only manage at 56-53 advantage.
The Heat turned up their defense in the second half while receiving timely scoring contributions from Odom and Butler.
Odom had 10 points and Butler added eight as the Heat outscored the Pacers, 23-13 in the decisive third quarter to take the lead for good, 76-69. The gap widened to 11 before the Pacers cut it to 88-84 with 4 minutes left to go But Wade sank a jumper to stall the rally. On the next possession, he dribbled past Artest, made contact with O’Neal in the lane while flipping in a shot to make it 92-84 with 2:52 to go.
Kings 87 Timberwolves 81: Chris Webber scored six of his 28 points in the final 3:20 as the host Kings capitalized on sloppy play by the Timberwolves to deadlock their Western Conference semifinal series at 2-2.
“I made up my mind tonight I was going to play my game,’’ said Webber, who made 13-of-21 floor shots. Brad Miller chipped in with 20 points while Mike Bibby had 15 points and a playoff career best 12 assists for Sacramento, which bounced back from a heart-breaking overtime loss in Game 3.
League Most Valuable Player Kevin Garnett had 19 points and 21 rebounds for Minnesota, which was plagued by 40 percent field goal shooting and 24 turnovers, leading to 22 Kings’ points. Sam Cassell scored 15 points and Latrell Sprewell finished with 13.
“When your strength as a team is your ability not to turn the ball over, then all of a sudden that’s your glaring weakness that night, you’re going to get your butt kicked,” Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders explained.
The Timberwolves erased a 17-point first-half lead to knot the score late in the third quarter. But Miller scored 11 points in the final frame as the Kings pulled away.
Minnesota will host Game 5 today.
