LeBron James commented today on the Pacers’ attempt to play physical with the Heat and get in their faces.

“Whatever he’s trying, it is not working,” LeBron said of Danny Granger. “He’s said he’s not scared of LeBron, I want to let (James) know. I guess he’s doing it for his own psyche. It’s stupid.”

Granger has picked up technical fouls in each of the last three games and gotten into LeBron’s face as well.

In Game 4, the strategy by the Pacers to do this did not seem to work as it seemed to awaken Dwyane Wade and LeBron who went off in the second half as the Heat came back to beat the Pacers in Indiana and tie the series.

“I think there is a line and I’m tip-toeing it,” Granger said. “That’s a product of the chip on my shoulder and we have on our shoulder as a team of not being respected. That goes not just for this series, but all year. We had the fourth or fifth best record in the NBA and I think we only had one televised game. Three or four teams that didn’t make the playoffs had more televised games than us. It was just a matter of being disrespected nationally.”

Granger can feel this way and that’s ok but it might not be the greatest idea to get LeBron and Wade riled up.

Despite losing Game 4, the Pacers are still confident they can win this series and they should be. They beat the Heat in Game 2 in Miami and both of their wins have come when All-Star center Roy Hibbert has had big games.

In Game 4, Hibbert and David West were in foul trouble and it helped allow LeBron and Wade to get going and attack the paint which they did very efficiently.

Hibbert and West will have to play big for Indiana to have a chance as Chris Bosh is still out with his injury and inside is where the Pacers have their biggest advantage.

Granger too will need to step up as he hasn’t played very well at all this series while he’s mostly been matched up with LeBron.

The Heat shot terribly from three in the first two games at home and that was a big reason why Indiana kept those games close and won one of them. The role players for Miami picked up their shooting somewhat in Game 4 and one would expect them to be better for Game 5.

Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

For the first time this season the Oklahoma City Thunder have lost three straight games. The Indiana Pacers beat the Thunder 103-98 Friday night as the Thunder now are only a half game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the Western Conference.

The Thunder didn’t really have it tonight and fell behind early. They didn’t give up though because they never do.

Kevin Durant scored 44 points on 15-of-24 shooting and was the lone bright spot for Oklahoma City. Russell Westbrook had 21 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists but was 7-for-23 from the field.

The first half killed the Thunder tonight. They trailed by 15 at halftime and allowed 54 percent shooting from Indiana.

The energy wasn’t there as the game had the feel of a letdown game after the Miami one a few nights ago. Durant and Westbrook still each played 40-plus minutes as the two played the entire second half.

James Harden was quiet again with 10 points and four assists and just one field goal in the game.

Indiana is a solid team and played that way tonight giving the Thunder a defensive effort they aren’t always used to but should have been after their last two losses.

Roy Hibbert and Danny Granger led the way for the Pacers. Hibbert had a big first half and finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. Granger carried the offensive load in the last two quarters and led the team with 26 points.

Paul George may have had the biggest impact for the Pacers despite scoring only eight points he also added a career high 16 rebounds and held Durant to just 44.

The Thunder proved again tonight why they are the most entertaining team in the NBA this season. This was a game where they should have lost by 20. It was decided in the first half. They never gave up and fought for the entire second half even though the destined winner was Indiana.

Oklahoma City is now 40-15 on the year and will play Toronto (20-35) for their next game Sunday night.