NBA Playoff Schedule 2012: Keys to a Miami Heat Victory on Sunday

If the Miami Heat want to keep their nightmares from becoming reality, they must beat the Indiana Pacers on Sunday to avoid a 3-1 hole.

With Chris Bosh out and Dwyane Wade melting before our eyes, the Heat turned into LeBron and the LeBronettes in Game 3. And although the frontman was decent, he didn't do nearly enough to carry the team by himself.

In the pivotal Game 4, the Heat need to make some major improvements to avoid disaster.

Here are their main keys to victory.

Keep Indiana Off the Glass

It's unrealistic to ask Miami to outrebound Indiana—especially after losing Bosh—but they have to at least keep it close.

In the last two games, the Pacers have won the rebounding war 50-40 and 52-36. The result was two devastating defeats for Miami.

In those games, Roy Hibbert has snagged nine offensive rebounds, while the Pacers as a team pulled down 31.

If LeBron, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony (and any other big man Spoelstra throws out there) don't do a better job of protecting the boards, the Heat will lose again.

Better Production From Role Players

Outside of Mario Chalmers, Miami's role players might as well have been dead in Game 3.

Shane Battier and James Jones combined to shoot 1-13 from the field and missed all nine of their three-point attempts. Perhaps more importantly, Joel Anthony, Mike Miller and Ronny Turiaf grabbed just 10 total rebounds despite playing a combined 61 minutes off the bench.

They must play better for Miami to even the series.

LeBron and Wade Must Be Spectacular

To put it simply, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have to play like the future Hall of Famers that they are.

With Bosh out, the two remaining stars have no margin for error. If one of them limps to another 2-of-13 effort like Wade in Game 2, the Heat will get annihilated.

Both have to be smart about their shot selection and relentless in attacking the rim so they can get to the free-throw line. In their Game 1 victory, they combined to shoot 24 free throws. In the close Game 2 loss, they combined for 23.

But in Thursday's embarrassing 19-point loss, Wade only shot two, and LeBron had just three.

If their two best players are tentative again, Miami will be pushed to the brink of elimination, and heads will roll in the Heat organization.