the series. "You know at times it feels like

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INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Pacers bizarre season came to a familiar end Friday night. Another embarrassing loss at Miami. Now Larry Bird must spend the off-season trying to figure out what went wrong and what must be fixed to finally beat the Heat in the playoffs. "You just have to go into the off-season with the mindset that were going to reload. We have a core, a system, a culture thats going to give us a chance every year," coach Frank Vogel said after Fridays 25-point, season-ending loss. "Weve got to make whatever adjustments we have to make to come back and be here again next year." There are plenty of questions heading into what could be a turbulent off-season. Will Vogel be back after leading the Pacers to 42, 49 and 56 wins in his first three full seasons as coach, capturing back-to-back Central Division titles, reaching the last two conference finals and earning the No. 1 seed for only the third time in franchise history? Will the Pacers re-sign free agent Lance Stephenson, their 23-year-old energizer, whose erratic behaviour became a major distraction in the Eastern Conference finals? Could Hibbert be on the trading block after struggling through Indianas confounding second-half swoon and nearly disappearing, at times, during the playoffs? Might Bird make other moves to cope with the NBA trend of spreading the floor, add scorers or rebuild the bench yet again? Or do the Pacers simply need more time to mature? While those answers might not come for months, one thing is clear: They must find a way to get past Miami after three straight playoff series losses, the last two in the Eastern Conference finals. "Obviously, theyre more prepared, theyre more seasoned for this moment," David West said. "Theyve been able to embrace these moments to get to a level that we, for some reason, cant compete." Bird spent last summer revamping the bench, and Indiana responded with a 33-7 start — the best in the NBA. But after signing Andrew Bynum in February and trading Danny Granger for Evan Turner at the trade deadline, the Pacers went into a confounding second-half swoon in which they looked disengaged and disinterested. Two-time All-Star Paul George acknowledged Friday that the Pacers seemed to hit a wall, thinking they could turn it on whenever they needed it. Somehow, they still managed to finish with the best record in the East, rallied to win the final two games against eighth-seeded Atlanta after twice giving away home-court advantage and rallied again against a young Washington team after giving away home-court advantage in Game 1. When they did it again by failing to close out the Heat at home in Game 2, Miami responded by winning all three of its home games decisively to clinch the series. "You know at times it feels like were there, and then theres games where it still feels like were not at that point yet," George said when asked if he thought the Pacers had closed the gap on Miami. "Coach says it, I mean, in order for us to beat this team, weve got to play like champions. More times than not, we didnt do so." Most of the problems were self-inflicted. Indiana struggled with infighting, prolonged slumps, unseemly rumours and constant criticism. Hibbert epitomized much of it. In late March, he complained about "selfish dudes" in the locker room, a barb directed at Stephenson, later apologized and was so bad, at times, in the playoffs that fans and analysts called for his benching. And its unclear what the Pacers will do after a second straight blowout in an elimination game at Miami. Bird acknowledged the Pacers were going "all in" this season when they re-signed David West, gave George a max deal and traded away their first-round pick to get Luis Scola from Phoenix. Stephenson could be the next Pacers player to strike it rich. But after calling out LeBron James publicly before Game 4, blowing in his ear in Game 5 and tapping James on his chin early in Game 6, some wonder if the Pacers even want Stephenson back. It all depends on whether Bird thinks Stephenson can help beat the Heat. "I dont know what the future holds for us," West said. "Obviously, everything starts and ends with the Miami Heat. You have to have a team that can get through a tough regular season but ultimately, you have to be able to beat Miami to get to the finals." Jim Plunkett Womens Jersey . Venus Williams advanced to the ASB Classic final in Auckland on a walkover when fellow American Jamie Hampton withdrew from their semifinal Friday with a right hip injury. Willie Brown Youth Jersey . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. http://www.shoptheraidersonline.com/Elite-Ted-Hendricks-Raiders-Jersey/ .ca. Hi Kerry, Welcome back! Im sure you heard Peter Forsbergs comments last week regarding Canadian referees in the gold medal game. Seems to me that he was questioning the integrity and impartiality. Jim Otto Jersey . Nwaneri, who was born in Dallas and attended Naaman Forest High School in nearby Garland, Texas, tweeted, "Its official! Im coming home, Im coming home. Willie Brown Womens Jersey . A 19-game winner with the New York Yankees in both 2006 and 2007, Wang spent most of this year at Triple-A for the Yankees and Blue Jays. The 33-year-old right-hander was 1-2 with a 7. DENVER -- This time, the Sacramento Kings enjoyed their trip to Denver. Isaiah Thomas scored 33 points, Rudy Gay had 32 and the Kings used 39 third-quarter points to race past the Nuggets 109-95 on Sunday night. DeMarcus Cousins added 27 points for the Kings, who snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. It was Sacramentos first win in Denver since a 118-115 victory on April 5, 2008. The Kings have won three of their last four games overall, including both ends of a back-to-back. "The third quarter kind of dictated the game," Thomas said. "We were getting stops and we got out and ran. Thats when were at our best, when were in transition. We were in attack mode. Rudy started it off, DeMarcus got easy buckets and I just got what they gave me. I was making open shots. We played a helluva third quarter." Randy Foye and Evan Fournier each scored 27 points for the slumping Nuggets, who lost for the seventh time in the last eight games. The Nuggets fell to 1-5 without leading scorer Ty Lawson, who missed a sixth game because of a fractured left rib. "We basically controlled the whole first half, did what we wanted to do, and then we came out and gave up 39 points in the third quarter. Thats unacceptable," Foye said after Denver managed just 18 points in the third. "Its tough, man. But weve got to stay together, weve got to keep fighting and keep believing; dont give in. Thats the main thing. Everybody goes through times like this during the season. Its important for us to continue to fight, to keep pushing." Down 58-51 after Foye hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third, the Kings responded with a 21-2 run that put them in front 72-60 with 4:55 left in the period. Gay scored nine points in the decisive stretch, including consecutive three-point plays.dddddddddddd Cousins hit a couple of jumpers and Thomas twice connected from 3-point range, with Kenneth Farieds mid-range jumper accounting for Denvers only points during Sacramentos surge. "I wouldnt say it was the best quarter we put together all year but it was pretty good," Gay said. "We got back defensively, Fournier was hurting us in the first half, we got out and guarded him. They still hit a couple of tough shots but for the most part we attacked, got to the foul line and found the open man." The Kings carried an 87-70 lead into the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by Wilson Chandler pulled the Nuggets to 94-84 with 6:41 left, but the Kings scored the next nine points, including another three-point play by Gay. The Nuggets opened a 13-point lead midway through the second quarter. Fournier connected on two 3-pointers and Jan Vesely, making his home debut after being acquired Thursday from Washington, broke through for a pair of dunks. Sacramento pulled to 52-48 at halftime, outscoring the Nuggets 8-1 in the last 2:10 of the second quarter, with Gay driving for a dunk to close the spurt. NOTES: Nuggets F Darrell Arthur missed the game after he strained his left hip during Fridays loss at Chicago. ... The Kings announced that Jason Terry, who was acquired from Brooklyn with Reggie Evans in exchange for Marcus Thornton, will miss the rest of the season so he can continue rehabilitating a knee injury. ... Sacramento has scored 100 or more points in three of its last four games. ... Gay surpassed 20 points for the third time in four games. ... Fourniers 27 points were a career high, surpassing his previous best by two. ' ' '

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