It does not have to be pretty. Wins can be extremely ugly.

So after the Pacers won by quickening the pace it makes the Heat would even the series by slowing things down. Huh?

The Pacers and Heat played each other within 20 points the entire game. No team took more than an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter. LeBron James took over the fourth quarter in a subtle but obvious way. I guess that is really contradictory. This game was full of those.

James finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists, doing a lot of work in the fourth quarter to lead Miami to an 87-83 win in Indiana and a tie in the Eastern Conference Finals. Dwyane Wade did a lot of the heavy lifting offensively with 23 points. It was the Heat’s defense that was the difference this time around as they started flying around and pressuring the Pacers with an urgency that was missing in Game One.

It was not all there though. Miami had to fight to get back into this game and tie the series.

All five Pacers starters scored in double figures with Lance Stephenson scoring 25 points to lead the way. Stephenson was aggressive and took advantage of the moments when the Heat’s defense was lax — including a tip in with 0.1 seconds left to beat the halftime buzzer.

Miami will have to find a way to keep their energy up. That was the big message as the team leaves Indiana. The Pacers are here to play. Miami has to be ready to match them.

Oklahoma City is all Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook at this point. The Spurs? They can have players take turn with the scoring load. It can be Tim Duncan one moment. Then Tony Parker the next. Then Kawhi Leonard took over. Then that killer bench.

The Thunder are down Serge Ibaka and need everyone to pull together. Oklahoma City is still figuring that part out. Now does not seem to be the time to be doing that — it is the Western Conference, after all.

The Spurs were up big, lost the lead and then went up big again for a 122-105 Game One win.

Tim Duncan scored 27 points. Manu Ginobili had 18 points off the bench. Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green each scored 16 points.

Oklahoma City got a consistent 28 points from Kevin Durant and 25 from Russell Westbrook. It was contributions from everyone else that was the problem. Reggie Jackson had 13 points and Derek Fisher had 16 points. No one else seemed to be able to do much else.

When Durant and Westbrook took over in the third quarter and helped Oklahoma City get back into the game and take the lead. Then the Spurs ramped things up again and opened the lead back out. It was clinical as the Spurs usually are.

The Thunder will have to figure things out for Game Two. Not only figuring out how to keep the Spurs out of the paint — 66-32 advantage in points in the paint for the Spurs — but also figuring out how to get others involved and ease the pressure off Durant and Westbrook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duKGWUmQMRQ

The Heat bring out the best in the Pacers. Maybe they have all along.

It took this matchup against their hated rivals to bring the Pacers back to reality. For the first time all Playoffs, the Pacers were the dominant defensive team, bullying their way into the paint and moving the ball with speed and purpose. They kept the Heat on the perimeter, despite seeing the pace picked up to a level the Heat probably liked.

All five Pacers starters scored in double figures. Paul George scored 24 points and dished out seven assists. Roy Hibbert and David West each had 19 points. They beat the Heat up inside. Indiana had 23 assists on 35 field goal attempts. The Pacers made 29 of 37 free throws, attacking and getting to the line against the Heat’s defense.

They also hit eight of 19 3-pointers.

The Heat seemed to have all the opposite problems. They settled for mid-range jumpers, were unable to get out on the break or crack the Pacers’ defense. They were passive and let Indiana dictate everything.

Sure LeBron James and Dwyane Wade got their numbers. James scored 25 points to go with 10 rebounds, shooting 11 for 18 from the floor. Wade had 27 points on 12-for-18 shooting. Miami even shot 51.3 percent from the floor. Chris Andersen even scored 14 points.

But Miami just never could get back into the game. The stops were never there. They brought Indiana’s double digit deficit to eight points once and it was all Pacers. Trading baskets was not going to be enough.

Indiana had the right motivation and the right energy to win one game. They need three more to accomplish their big goals from the whole season. It is still out there, despite it all.

For all you NBA and “Game of Thrones” fans, this one is for you.

Called “Game of Zones,” this creative take on the NBA gives you a cocky Pat Riley talking with LeBron James about the rising Wizards team, Kevin Love not happy being in Minnesota, and OKC’s Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant preparing for the zombie-like San Antonio Spurs coming back for another shot at the title.

Check it out (h/t Project Spurs).

The Clippers had their chance. They really did.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were struggling to put the ball in the basket and Los Angeles had control of the game and the pace, taking the lead. It was just never big enough. Durant and Westbrook are not going to stay down too long. An 8-12 point lead was not going to be enough with the eventuality Durant and Westbrook would make their shots.

The onslaught came, the Clippers could not stop it. And now they are headed home into the uncertainty of the offseason and their franchise situation.

There was bitter disappointment that things did not end better for the Clippers. For the Thunder, there was the confidence that Durant and Westbrook can save them from just about anything. That they can grind their way through a game until that point when their two stars can take over.

Durant recovered from a slow first quarter start to score 39 points. Russell Westbrook had 19 points on 4-for-13 shooting, but dished out 12 assists, helping keep the offense going even while he was struggling to make plays for himself.

Oklahoma City got big support from some role players too. Steven Adams was active around the basket and Reggie Jackson had his best game of the series off the bench.

The Clippers got great efforts from Chris Paul (25 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds), Blake Griffin (22 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) and J.J. Redick (16 points, 7/17 FGs). But they needed a bit more to keep distance from the Thunder. When their shots stopped falling, the Thunder came back and in a big way.

See you next year, L.A.