NBA Playoffs 2014: Last-Minute Preview for Game 5 of Eastern Conference Finals

At this point, the Indiana Pacers might want to make it stop, even if it means a playoff exit.

With the Heat's 102-90 win in Game 4 on Monday night, Miami needs to win one of its next three games in order to advance to the NBA Finals.

Between their strong play and the Pacers' overall malaise, the Heat should get one step closer to achieving an improbable three-peat Wednesday night.

When: Wednesday, May 28, 8:30 p.m. ET

Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind.

Watch: ESPN

Live Stream: Watch ESPN

Somewhat unbelievably, Paul George placed some of the blame for the Pacers' Game 4 loss at the feet of the officials.

Why not? If only those refs had given Indiana a couple more foul shots, then Miami might've won by only single digits.

For his efforts, George was fined $25,000, per Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears:

At this point, nothing more needs to be said about Indiana's problems beyond the entire team looking to be in a perpetual angst-ridden state. Roy Hibbert is doing his personal best to become the physical manifestation of melancholy:

Maybe he's taking Landon Donovan's exclusion from the United States national team ahead of the World Cup really hard.

If the Pacers are going to snap out of their funk, it has to be on Wednesday night—and not only because they'll be eliminated otherwise.

What would it say about the team if it limped out of the postseason after a lifeless home loss?

Head coach Frank Vogel would almost certainly be out. Would the same fate befall a key player like Hibbert or Lance Stephenson?

Wednesday night could be the last time we see the Pacers in their current iteration.

The organization is pulling out all the stops to make Bankers Life Fieldhouse as inhospitable as possible for the Heat. And by "pulling out all the stops," I mean placing towels with positive-sounding buzzwords on every seat.

Indiana can try to build a strong home-court advantage, but the fact of the matter is that road teams have had plenty of success in Indianapolis this postseason, per ESPN Stats and Info:

One of the biggest questions coming into this series was whether or not the Pacers' best could beat the Heat's best. So far, the answer has been a resounding "no."

Dwyane Wade is averaging 22.0 points a night in the Eastern Conference Finals, and LeBron James is contributing 26.3 a night.

And of course, Norris Cole has been one of the Heat's most important players off the bench.

Grantland's Zach Lowe commended Cole for his defending on Stephenson. After scoring 17 in Game 1 and 25 in Game 2, the Pacers guard has combined for 19 across Games 3 and 4:

While Cole doesn't do nearly as much on the offensive end, he's nailing key three-pointers, and more importantly, not turning the ball over:

Stopping LeBron and D-Wade is hard enough. When Cole, Rashard Lewis, Ray Allen and Chris Andersen are holding their own off the bench, the Heat are nearly impossible to beat.

Miami merely needs to carry over its Games 2-4 performances over to Game 5, and it will wrap the series up.

The possibility remains that the Pacers could overturn a 3-1 deficit. The Heat have won three in a row. Why can't Indiana?

The nature of the Pacers' three losses, however, is such that they have almost no way back from here. A win in Game 5 would simply prolong the inevitable.