INDIANAPOLIS – Around the Miami Heat, Udonis Haslem always has commanded a unique respect, an admiration and gratefulness for the way he embraces sacrificing himself. One after another, Roy Hibbert and David West have took turns punishing the Heat’s frontcourt, and Haslem’s 6-foot-8 frame rendered him mostly overpowered. There needed to be a price paid for the Pacers’ rugged play inside, Haslem believed.

So when Haslem addressed his Heat teammates privately on Sunday, they all absorbed his message: Desperation and a keen remembrance of how Erik Spoelstra showed them the Pacers could be exploited. Across the first two games of these Eastern Conference finals, Indiana suffocated whatever penetration Miami made – suffocated its role players.

Mostly, Hibbert and West had shown clear disrespect toward Haslem’s shooting ability, leaving them free to roam the paint, free to harness LeBron James. Spoelstra and his coaching staff spent considerable time on the off day Saturday pointing out all the open shots that could have went to Haslem and Chris Bosh in Game 2.

And the coach’s plan of exploitation was this: Attack. Draw. Pass.

James and Dwyane Wade did it over and over in Game 3, piling up 11 assists between them, and Haslem delivered 17 points and seven rebounds to punctuate the Heat’s 114-96 win for a 2-1 series lead. Haslem drained six jumpers, and he kept taking hits – kept overcoming them – from Hibbert and West.

“They swallow you up with their size when you get to the basket, so you have to have people who can withstand, people who can shoot the ball,” Haslem told RealGM late Sunday. “It’s something we talked about going into the game. We saw on film that we could take advantage of it. Sometimes, it’s rebounding and defense. [Sunday] it was knocking down shots.

“I was sprinting to my spots. I credit my guys for finding me in my spots and I shot it with confidence.”

Still, Haslem refused to take the majority of credit for his shooting and rebounding. His jumpers were all a byproduct of James and Wade and others, Haslem says, and as far as his rebounding, it was Bosh’s box outs. Nevertheless, the way Haslem deflects praise – the way he matches the physicality of bigger, stronger players – is what endears him among teammates.

“He’s the heartbeat of our team,” James said.

“[Haslem] is all heart,” Wade said.

For the Heat, Game 3 was their sharpest halftime of the playoffs, a 70-point outburst in which James put on a posting up clinic. Paul George went toe to toe, shot for shot with James over two games in Miami, but he had no resistance when LeBron locked into putting his back to the basket and outmuscling the thinner George on Sunday. It was too easy, too often: Dribble up court, pound the ball into James on the left block, and the Pacers were at his mercy.

When the Heat relinquished the homecourt edge in this conference final, Haslem knew they weren’t going to run from the opportunity to regain desperation, but rather run toward it. Wade made progress in critical stretches, and the Heat appear stable with the likelihood his knees are as healthy as they’re going to be, receiving treatment around the clock.

“It’s the first time in a while we truly played like ourselves,” Shane Battier said.

No one more than Haslem. At 32, Haslem understands this postseason – this series, in particular – has tested his body. Hibbert and West will continue trying to impose their physicality on the Heat, a tiring challenge Haslem has embraced.

“I love to compete, love the challenge. I just have to rise to the occasion,” Haslem said in an emptying locker room. “You’ve got size and height with Hibbert, and you’ve got strength and power with West. They both give me different challenges.

“A sense of desperation, we felt like our backs were against the wall. We needed to get this win – by any means necessary.”

All around the Heat, Haslem still has players heeding his words, still intently listening. Spoelstra wisely showed his players footage of situations when Haslem had been left open on the perimeter, left alone by a Pacers defense clogging the paint to guard drives by James.

As he sat in the corner of the locker room, ready to bite into his postgame meal, Haslem nodded knowingly, that he understood those shots would come his way Sunday. Three points combined in his past two games, and still no one around Udonis Haslem was surprised about the barrage of jumpers that happened next.