Believe it or not, the Indiana Paces actually led at one point in Game 5 against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. With 5:16 left in the first half, they had a 32-30 advantage with a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals one victory away.

The Wizards clearly had more energy and urgency in the first quarter, but turnovers kept them from building a double-digit lead. The Pacers hung around, beginning the second with a huge run to seemingly take control of the game. When Washington didn't back down, Indiana decided they would instead.

Marcin Gortat owned the first half with 17 points and 11 rebounds on 8-for-10 shooting. He matched the entire Pacers team on the glass, while the Wizards took a 32-11 edge into the break. Still, Indiana only trailed 45-38 with 24 minutes left to flip the switch and begin preparing for their next opponent, likely the rival Miami Heat.

The Pacers had won the third quarter in each of the first four games of the semifinal series, including double-digit advantages in the last two, but the Wizards were the ones to dominate the period with their season on the line.

The Wizards outscored Indiana 31-14, outrebounded them 18-4 and essentially won the game in the third. The Pacers, who woke up for a bit in the first half and matched Washington's intensity, began packing their bags for Game 6 at the Verizon Center way too early. After winning three straight and five of six, once again there are questions surrounding the validity of Indiana's title chances. 

In garbage time, the Pacers had their best offensive quarter of the game. They scored 27 points and shot 10-for-19 from the field, but they were still outrebounded by the Wizards in the fourth quarter. Randy Wittman's second unit kept the lead intact, finishing off a 102-79 victory.

The Pacers won both games in Washington this past weekend, so the fact that the next game will be away from home isn't the problem going forward. It's the effort we saw in a close-out game at home. Not surprisingly, Charles Barkley put it best on the TNT postgame show, saying: "It's almost impossible to lose a home game in the playoffs, a close-out game, by 30 points. That's the thing that was disconcerting. In a close-out game at home. That's unbelievable."

Welcome to the 2014 playoffs, where anything the Pacers do is believable.

John Wall

After struggling in the first four games of the series, Wall put the Wizards on his back to extend their season. He outscored the Pacers 17-14 in the third quarter himself, going 6-for-8 from the field with a trio of three-pointers and just one turnover.

Wall finished the game with 27 points, five assists and five rebounds in just a little more than 33 minutes, easily his best effort against the Pacers. He also had fun doing it, barking at the crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse while clearly in a zone.

As dominant as he was in the third, Wall was aggressive from the opening tip. Losing with a chance to end the series is one thing, but waking up a slumbering All-Star point guard in the heart of the playoffs series is dangerous.

Marcin Gortat & The Boards

Gortat embarrassed the Pacers' frontline in the game. He outhustled David West and Roy Hibbert for countless rebounds and often came out on top when taking on two or three players for the basketball.

Gortat, who scored 31 points on 13-for-15 shooting, had 16 rebounds. The Pacers had just 23 as a team. Gortat went right at Hibbert on offense and needed only to put a little body on him on the other end of the floor to put himself in position for an easy defensive rebound.

He had seven of Washington's 18 offensive rebounds. The Wizards managed to only score 13 points on those second chances. The final score could have been much uglier.

The Wizards absolutely pounded the Pacers on the glass, finishing with a 62-23 advantage. During the regular season, Indiana had the third-best rebounding differential in the game (+3.5). Washington ranked eighteenth with an even mark (0.0).

Here are the rebounding differentials through five games:

Game 1: Wizards +17 (Washington win)

Game 2: Wizards +5 (Indiana win)

Game 3: Wizards +3 (Indiana win)

Game 4: Pacers +4 (Indiana win)

Game 5: Wizards +39 (Washington win)

I'm not sure if it was by design, but the Pacers spent a lot of time rushing back on defense on their own shot attempts. It may have been to keep the Wizards from getting out on the fast break, but it led to just four offensive rebounds. Washington was also still able to get out on the break because the Pacers shot 39%. They had a 17-10 edge in fast break points.

When a rebounding margin is that vast, desire and hustle are definitely a factor.

Starters vs. Bench

A game after getting all but two of their points from the starters, the Pacers saw the bench be the more productive unit. The bench scored 31 points, even though the figure is skewed due to heavier minutes in the blowout loss. 

George Hill, Paul George and Roy Hibbert combined to score 22 points on 8-for-30 shooting. Hill and George had six of Indiana's 11 turnovers.

It was strange that Frank Vogel left some of his starters in the game as long as he did. George, who admitted that he was gassed after an epic performance on Sunday night, played nearly six minutes in the fourth quarter of a game that had long been decided. He logged 39 minutes and has played at least 36 in each of his 12 playoff games. He has topped forty minutes in eight games.