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rliest how many nations qualified for the Olympic
MIAMI -- For so much of the night, just about everything was going wrong for the Miami Heat. White Air VaporMax 2018 . They were missing every 3-pointer, arguing plenty of calls, even screaming at one another. Then one quick burst changed everything. Dwyane Wade scored 32 points, LeBron James added 24 on a sore left ankle, and Chris Bosh and Ray Allen connected on huge 3-pointers within a 31-second span down the stretch. It all added up to the Heat erasing a 15-point deficit in the final 18 minutes to beat the rival Indiana Pacers 97-94 on Wednesday. "It shows were a team thats been there before," Wade said. "No matter what the score is we always feel we have an opportunity to win the game." So even when Indiana led 68-53 midway through third quarter, hope remained. And even when James and Mario Chalmers were getting in a heated exchange during one particularly bleak stretch -- James said afterward that he was wrong, and Chalmers said the matter was forgotten -- the Heat didnt fall apart. "It was a good win," James said. "Good, good, quality win against a very good team on our home floor. We had to overcome a lot." Paul George scored 25 points for Indiana but missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it with 4 seconds left, and insisted afterward that he was fouled by James on the play. "I went into my shot, got pushed in the back, I thought it was a foul, nothing was called, and we lost the game," George said. "Aside of that we still should have taken care of business." David West had 23 points and Lance Stephenson added 13 for the Pacers, who have dropped two straight and saw their lead over Miami in the Eastern Conference trimmed to one game. Both teams have won against the other on their home floor this season, and Miami topped Indiana at home in Game 7 of the East finals a year ago. "Its December," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "I think you have two great teams going at it. Its going to be a fun series all season, the regular-season matchups, and hopefully we will both be able to reach a point in the playoffs where we can meet again." Miami got the 15-point deficit down to five by the end of the third quarter, and was still down 92-85 when West scored with 3:21 remaining. Then, for the first time all night, the Heat put together a real run. The Heat scored the next 10 points -- Boshs 3-pointer, his first in 15 attempts, tied it at 92. And after George missed in the lane at the other end, James brought the ball the other way and found Allen for a 3-pointer that put the Heat ahead for the first time since the score was 14-13. They didnt trail again. "I was encouraged by our ability to stay focused and show some resolve in the second half," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It wasnt necessarily pretty, but you have to make enough plays ... and a lot of times against this opponent it has to be like that, where its not smooth and you have to make enough plays to just give yourself a chance in the end." The Pacers had a chance at the lead late, but it went awry when George Hill turned the ball over on a pass with 14 seconds left. Allen made two free throws with 10.3 seconds remaining to put Miami up by three, and that capped the scoring. Pacers centre Roy Hibbert got his fourth foul early in the third, and Vogel opted to leave him in the game. The gamble appeared to backfire 46 seconds later when Hibbert picked up his fifth with 8:34 remaining in the quarter. Hibbert went to the bench -- but the Pacers didnt miss a beat. George made three free throws after getting hit beyond the arc by Chalmers to put Indiana up 66-51 midway through the third, and the Pacers lead was still 14 with 4:17 left in the period. "They stole the game from us," West said. Even though the teams wont see each other again until March, and with the playoffs still 50-something games away, there was clearly a little more meaning to this one. James was questionable because of a bad ankle, the one he twisted in Mondays win over Utah. Vogel was questionable because of bad spaghetti -- at least, he thinks thats what caused a quick bout with illness that set in after he dined Tuesday night. By game time, both pronounced themselves ready. NOTES: Pacers F Danny Granger, who has played in just five games since the start of last season because of injuries, will practice Thursday and is set to return to the lineup. ... Neither team has topped 100 points in the last six meetings, including playoff games. Cheap Air VaporMax Store . -- Felix Girard scored on the power play in the third period to lift the Baie-Comeau Drakkar past the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Friday. Grey Air VaporMax On Sale . And yet as they left TD Garden amid the slush and snow of a winter storm on Thursday evening, there was a sense among the Leafs that they had finally stood toe to toe with their long-time bully, only to fall just short.The Jamaican bobsled team may be headed to another Olympics. The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast. Olympic organizers said Saturday that Jamaica has qualified for the two-man competition at next months Sochi Games, though it remains unclear if the fledgling squad will get a chance to race. Funding is a serious problem and sled driver Winston Watts told The Associated Press on Saturday that hes trying to raise as much as $80,000 in the next couple weeks to cover travel and equipment costs. "Right now," Watts said, "were at zero." They are certainly among the worlds most storied bobsled teams, and that has little to do with results. Jamaica first competed in Olympic bobsledding in 1988 at the Calgary Games, a story that inspired the "Cool Runnings" film. For a nation lacking bobsled tradition, or snowy winters, Jamaica has often fared quite well on the international circuits. Its been 12 years since Jamaica has had a sled in the Olympics, with Watts finishing 28th at the Salt Lake City Games with Calgarys Lascelles Brown -- now a key part of Canadas national team. Brown won a medal at the 2010 Vancouver Games, one where the Jamaicans were hoping to compete but were again thwarrted by funding issues. Supply Air VaporMax Shop. Still, the 46-year-old Watts -- who called himself "retired" from sliding for nearly a decade -- has held on to hope of sliding again on the sports biggest stage. "Were pretty good," Watts said. "Were not there with the rest of the world, of course. But we if had some more sources for funding, wed have a better chance." He started the season thinking he could get a four-man sled ready for Sochi, before quickly realizing that was too expensive. His focus then shifted to the two-man sled and by racing in a number of lower-tier events at tracks in Park City, Lake Placid and Calgary in recent months, Watts and brakeman Marvin Dixon piled up enough points to get into the Olympic mix. Sochi officials tweeted word Saturday that the Jamaicans were in, but the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation -- the sports governing body -- is not expected to confirm before Sunday at the earliest how many nations qualified for the Olympic fields. Watts said hes confident that Jamaica is qualified. "Im not a person who likes to quit," Watts said. "I put my heart into it and I know for a fact that people are going to help this team." ' ' '
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