No Big Three meant one big problem for Miami, and one very big win for Indiana.

David West scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, George Hill added 15 and the Indiana Pacers took home-court advantage away from Miami by beating the Heat 78-75 in Game 2 of the teams’ Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday night.

LeBron James scored 28 points for Miami and Dwyane Wade finished with 24, but both missed big chances for the Heat late. James missed two free throws with 54.3 seconds left and Miami down one, and Wade was short on a layup that would have tied the game with 16 seconds remaining.

Mario Chalmers’ 3-pointer to tie bounced away on the final play, and the series was tied 1-1.

Danny Granger scored 11 points and Paul George added 10 for Indiana, which took advantage of Heat forward Chris Bosh’s absence and outrebounded Miami 50-40.

– Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Still unknown is whether Bosh can make it back from his lower-abdominal strain during this series or during the postseason at all.

In his absence, LeBron James against continued with the heavy lifting, with 28 points Tuesday, again playing the entire second half, with Heat guard Dwyane Wade adding 24 in a largely uneven performance. James also had six steals, a personal postseason high, and the most ever by a Heat player in a playoff game.

Beyond that, there was precious little for the Heat, who eventually ran out of gas on a night they shot 20 of 29 from the foul line and 1 of 16 on 3-points.

In the end, the Pacers had greater balance and a few more free throws when needed, led by the 16 points and 10 rebounds of forward David West, on a night the Pacers outrebounded the Bosh-less Heat 50-40.

The game ended with Heat point guard Mario Chalmers off on a 3-pointer.

The third quarter was an exercise in misery for the Heat, opening the second half 1 of 12 from the field, as the Pacers used a 16-3 run to move to a 53-46 lead.

It set up the ugly finish.

– Reported by Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Indiana used a 12-0 run in the second quarter to get back into the contest, then a 28-14 advantage in the third to seize control. The Heat would close the gap in the fourth quarter and eventually take a 71-70 lead.

But Indiana, displaying the grit and late game poise that eluded them in Game 1, used a key bucket from David West, a timely block from Paul George and the misses of Wade and Chalmers to finish the job.

James had 28 to lead the Heat, while Wade added 24, but no other Heat player reached double digits.

– Reported by Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star

Miami Heat power forward/center Chris Bosh likely will miss the remainder of the playoff series against the Indiana Pacers and possibly more time after an MRI confirmed he strained an abdominal muscle during Sunday’s Game 1 victory.

“Our team is going to be successful, and whether I’m playing or not I’m still going to be a part of that,” Bosh said Monday, a practice day for the Heat. “I just have to make sure that I support them any kind of way and, you know, this season has to be extended for me to play again.”

The Heat placed no timetable on a return for Bosh, who sustained the injury with a minute left in the first half when he drove the lane and dunked against Pacers center Roy Hibbert. Bosh, who also drew a foul on Hibbert, fell to his knees when he landed and reached for the right side of his lower abdomen.

– Reported by the Miami Herald

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have re-signed Head Coach Rick Carlisle.

On May 9, 2008, Carlisle became the ninth head coach in franchise history. In his first four seasons with the Mavericks, Carlisle has led the team to a 198-114 (.635) regular season record, three 50+ win seasons and the franchise’s first-ever World Championship.

“We are excited that Rick will be back with the Mavericks for at least the next four years,” Owner Mark Cuban said. “He is a proven winner, a great teacher and a coach that will help the Mavericks improve as a team and as an organization.”

Carlisle led the Mavericks to the postseason in each of his four seasons in Dallas and has been named Western Conference Coach of the Month on two occasions (April, 2010 and Feb., 2011). He holds a career 53-46 (.535) postseason record, including an impressive 16-5 run to the 2011 World Championship. Carlisle is one of only 11 individuals to win the NBA Finals as both a player and head coach.

Carlisle holds a 479-325 (.596) record as a head coach with Detroit, Indiana and Dallas. Before joining Dallas, Carlisle took both Detroit and Indiana to the Eastern Conference Finals and earned 2001-02 NBA Coach of the Year accolades in just his first year as a head coach.

A native of Ogdensburg, N.Y., Carlisle graduated from the University of Virginia where he was co-captain of the Cavaliers’ 1984 Final Four team.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic underwent successful surgery today to remove bone spurs in his right ankle. The surgery was performed by Dr. Martin O’Malley at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Pekovic missed eight games during the 2011-12 season due to the bones spurs.

Pekovic appeared in 47 games for the Wolves this past season, averaging 13.9 points and 7.4 rebounds. He was 2nd in the NBA in field goal percentage at .564 and 18th with 181 offensive rebounds. Pekovic set a career-high with 30 points at Houston on Feb. 17 and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds April 22 vs. Golden State. The 6-11 center finished 3rd in the 2011-12 Kia NBA Most Improved Player voting.

Kyrie Irving is the recipient of the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy as the 2011-12 NBA Rookie of the Year, the NBA announced today. Irving totaled 592 points and received 117 first-place votes from a panel of 120 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.

Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio finished second with 170 points and Denver’s Kenneth Faried finished third with 129 points (one first-place vote). Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

Among first-year players, Irving ranked first in scoring (18.5 ppg), field goal percentage (.469) and free throw percentage (.872), while placing second in assists (5.4 apg) and three-point field goal percentage (.399). Among all players, Irving ranked tied for fourth in fourth-quarter scoring (6.4 ppg) while shooting .518 from the field, .410 from beyond the arc and .868 from the charity stripe.

The top selection in the 2011 NBA Draft, Irving joins Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Allen Iverson and, LeBron James as the only No. 1 overall draft picks to average at least 18.0 points and 5.0 assists. In addition, he is one of only six rookies in league history to average at least 18.0 points, 5.0 assists, and 1.0 steal while shooting at least .450 from the field, joining Johnson, Jordan, Alvan Adams, Grant Hill, and Tyreke Evans.

Irving was a three-time winner of the NBA’s Rookie of the Month Award, for games played in December/January, February and March. Irving was named MVP of the BVAA Rising Stars Challenge at NBA All-Star 2012 by scoring 34 points, including going 8-for-8 from beyond the three-point line, and dishing a game-high nine assists.

The Eddie Gottlieb Trophy is named in honor of Eddie Gottlieb, one of the NBA’s founders who coached the Philadelphia Warriors to the NBA championship in 1946-47.

In terms of injuries, the Celtics are now happy if someone can play at 75 percent capacity.

That essentially describes the plight of Avery Bradley, whose painful left shoulder popped out of its socket for the third time in two weeks during the Celtics’ 82-81 Game 2 loss to Philadelphia last night.

The Celtics guard left the game midway through the second quarter, had the shoulder re-set, and returned to play all but 12 seconds of the fourth quarter, in which he made two shots, including a big 3-pointer with 2:22 left.

“I thought he played fine,” said coach Doc Rivers. “He turned the ball over once and I thought that was a shoulder issue. If you see him trying to, he just had nothing on the ball. But, listen, I didn’t think we’d have him. At halftime they said we wouldn’t, and then when I walked out (trainer) Eddie (Lacerte) said, ‘Hey, I think he’s going to try to give it a go.’ I mean, this is the third time now in two weeks his shoulder’s come out. That can’t be a good feeling, number one. It has to hurt like heck.

“The good news is, though, it did what it did in the past where it went right back in and he got his feeling. That’s what happens when your shoulder goes out. You lose the feeling in your hand. You can’t go back in until it comes back. Tonight it did.”

– Reported by Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald

Here’s Brian Scalabrine, aka the White Mamba, doing a TV commercial:

It’s that time of the year when nearly every player lucky enough to still be playing is battling some sort of ache or pain. It’s certainly no different for the 76ers.

In Game 1 against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, forward Thaddeus Young was kneed in the shin by Celtics forward Ryan Hollins. The kneeing caused Young to also twist his right ankle. The ankle, he said, is feeling just fine, but the shin is giving him a little bit of a problem. Before Game 2 on Monday, Young was getting treatment and being fitted for a special pad to absorb any contact.

The more serious injury appears to be the shoulder/neck area of Elton Brand. After Monday’s shootaround, Brand admitted that the problem occurred when he took a spill in Game 4 of the Chicago series. He has been getting treatment and deemed himself fit, but the pain is obviously affecting him.

– Reported by Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News