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INDIANAPOLIS -- Roy Hibbert threw all the inside body jabs Tuesday night. Shamorie Ponds Jersey . 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. Kyle Lowry Jersey . In the other Group A game, the Czech Republic stunned Canada, 5-4 in a shootout. Dominik Simon scored the deciding goal in the tiebreaker. The United States scored its first three goals on power plays. "Overall, I love to see the power-play goals we were able to get tonight," said U. OG Anunoby Jersey . -- Jonas Hiller is cautiously confident he has kicked his vertigo. https://www.cheapraptors.com/ . The Twins announced Thursday the 28-year-old Albers cleared waivers. He will join the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Top-seeded Tommy Haas retired with a shoulder injury while losing 6-3, 3-2 to Paolo Lorenzi of Italy in the Brazil Open semifinals on Saturday. Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. He kept playing despite needing medical treatment several times, and finally gave up after going down another break in the second set. The 12th-ranked German said the pain was "getting worse during the match" and it didnt allow him to "compete the way" he wanted. "After I threw my racket when I got broken at three-all I felt a lot of pain in my shoulder and it never really got away," the 35-year-old Haas said. "The pain was getting worse. And the smart players decision has to be not to continue, unfortunately." Haas said he has been frustrated with shoulder problems and admitted it could play a factor on when to stop playing. "Ive had three shoulder injuries and one elbow injury, so my shoulder is not the youngest, not the way it needs to be," Haas said. Patrick McCaw Jersey. "Im very happy that I can still play at a high level, but sometimes the shoulder is very, very tired, very, very stiff, and it tells me not to continue. But Ill try to play as long as I can, hopefully for the rest of the season, then we will see." The 32-year-old Lorenzi, ranked 114th, will play in his first ATP final against 61st-ranked Federico Delbonis of Argentina, who got past home-crowd favourite Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in 2 hours, 9 minutes. Lorenzi had previously never advanced past the quarterfinals. "When I started this tournament I never thought that I would be playing in the final," Lorenzi said. "Now tomorrow lets see what happens. Right now Im just happy to be in this final." Rafael Nadal elected not to defend the title this week. He chose to play in the first Rio Open, which he won last week. ' ' '