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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." Jalyn Holmes Jersey .J. -- The Houston Astros had the No. Kirk Cousins Jersey . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. http://www.officialauthenticvikingsshop.com/authentic-mike-hughes-jersey.html . The Cavs announced the move Saturday, one day after LeBron James said hes returning to Cleveland. A 12-year veteran, Haywood has played in 794 NBA games, averaging 6. Kirk Cousins Vikings Jersey . While Chelsea stayed two points behind leader Arsenal courtesy of Etoos hat trick, seventh-place United slipped 14 points from the summit this weekend. And the gap from the Champions League places is growing as well, with Liverpool six points ahead in fourth. Jalyn Holmes Vikings Jersey . The Suns termed Fridays surgery by team doctor Thomas Carter a success. No timetable was given for Bledsoes return but the team said in a news release that he "will pursue a possible return to action during the second half" of the season.ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis manager Mike Matheny decided at the last minute against giving slumping infielder Kolten Wong the day off on Saturday. It proved to be a smart move. Wong homered and had three RBIs and Justin Masterson won his St. Louis debut as the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-7 on Saturday night. St. Louis, which had lost three of its previous four, moved two games behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central. The Brewers had a two-game winning streak snapped. Wong, who entered the contest mired in a 6 for 36 skid, went 3 for 5. He slammed a bases-loaded single to trigger a five-run outburst in the second inning that put St. Louis ahead to stay 6-1. He also hit a solo homer in the first. "That worked out fine for all of us," Matheny said of the late pre-game move. "It was nice to see him bounce back. With a young player, when he has a couple of rough days, you wonder, can he leave it behind and go back to having a nice approach. He jumped right in and had some big at-bats." Wong was 2 for 3 in his career against Brewers starter Kyle Lohse, a key factor in Matheny leaving him in the lineup. Wong, who entered the game hitless in his previous eight at-bats, spent some extra time studying his approaches at the plate following Fridays 7-4 loss to Milwaukee. "I knew the reason I was striking out as soon as the game finished yesterday," Wong said. "I was swinging way too hard trying to do way too much." Masterson (1-0) gave up five runs on seven hits over six innings. He was acquired from Cleveland on Wednesday for minor league outfielder James Ramsey. "There was a little rust out there," Masterson said. "But with that intense offence that we had, and some solid defence, that makes it fun to be out there." Aramis Ramirez and Scooter Gennett drove in two runs each for the Brewers. Ramirez had three hits for the second successive game. Lohse (11-6) took tthe loss.ddddddddddddLohse, who pitched for the Cardinals from 2008-12, gave up nine runs on nine hits over four innings. He struck out two and walked three. Lohse gave up eight earned runs in a 15-5 loss at Pittsburgh on June 6. "It was just a rough one," Lohse said. "I just left too many balls out over the plate." St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal recorded his 33rd save in 37 opportunities. He allowed a leadoff double to Jean Segura. Rosenthal then appeared to hit Elian Herrera with a pitch, but the call was overturned by a challenge. Rosenthal then got Herrera to ground out. He struck out Carlos Gomez and Gerardo Parra to end the game. ANCHORS AWEIGH Former US Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell threw out the first pitch. Luttrell was awarded the Navy Cross and Purple Heart for his actions in June 2005 as part of Operation Red Wings. He wrote the bestselling novel, The Lone Survivor, which has been turned into a movie starring Mark Wahlberg. TRAINERS ROOM Cardinals: OF Jon Jay missed his fourth successive game with a sore wrist suffered on a check swing July 29 at San Diego. He says the wrist is improving and he could return to the starting lineup as early as Tuesday against Boston. Brewers: RHP Jimmy Nelson, who was scratched from Saturdays start due to a blister on his finger, will start on Tuesday against San Francisco. ON DECK John Lackey (11-7, 3.60) will make his St. Louis debut on Sunday in the final game of the three-game series. He will be opposed by Matt Garza (7-7, 3.74). The Cardinals obtained Lackey on Thursday from Boston in exchange for OF Allen Craig and RHP Joe Kelly. LONG LASTING The Brewers have been in first place in the NL Central every day since April 5, a streak covering 121 successive days. They lost two of their first three games to open the season and spent two days in third place and one each in second and fourth before taking over the top spot. 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