(Editor’s Note: My apologies for the delay on this article being posted.  We had a little miscommunication on the source of the quotes and my head has been buried six feet deep in March Madness stuff.)

The record is moving up a notch. The Pacers are climbing up that mountain to steal the flag that leads them towards an eighth seed spot in the playoffs, barely beating the Bulls. Can they do it? It’s going to be tough but the Pacers are literally inching closer towards a playoff spot, I am not kidding here now.

With four games behind the Bulls, the Pacers have eight more games to prove they are contenders for a playoff spot. With Chicago at 34-38 and Indiana at 30-42, it will be such a close fight for the eighth seed.

Fans, the Pacers need to get this playoff spot. We need Indiana to make a playoff spot. It’s been four years since they haven’t made a spot in the playoffs. That’s 2005 and right now it is 2009. Do you realize how long that really is? We need hope.

This recap is one of my favorite I have written. Please read:

It came down to this one shot. But Dwayne Wade, he just missed. For a split-second, it looked liked it was going in for sure. It didn’t.

“I thought it was (going in) for a quick second, then I saw he shot it a little to the left and that’s why it rolled out,” said Danny Granger after the 90-88 win over the Miami Heat. “Fortunately, he missed it.”

This very close win marked the Pacers’ 17th straight home-court win over the Heat, 14 in the regular season and three in the playoffs.

Even though D-Wade has been averaging about 30 points per-game, he only had 21 today. It was still consistent but the thing that wasn’t satisfying was that he was 5-24 from the field, including 2-11 in the second the second half according to some sources.

“I thought it was (going in) for a quick second, then I saw he shot it a little to the left and that’s why it rolled out,” said Danny Granger, who led Indiana with 28 points. “Fortunately, he missed it.”

Indiana went on a 13-1 run in the fourth quarter, after a four-point deficit. The Pacers pulled out a very tight and close win and despite the fact they went scoreless in the final four minutes of the game, which can really kill you in an important game like this.

Even though the Heat haven’t beaten the Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse for more than seven years, it also marks that Dwayne Wade has never won in there, too.

“I don’t know why we are so dominant here against them, I really don’t,” Granger said. “But it’s a good streak.” Let’s hope it never ends. Hope is a key word for the Pacers. Hope is what we need Indy.

After T.J. Ford helped out the Pacers to a 87-80 lead, it brought more havoc to the Heat as Granger drilled a shot from downtown to make it a comfortable 10-point lead. The Heat rolled back to an 8-0 run, while former Pacer, Jermaine O’Neal, contributed to it with his two points.

“It’s just one of those nights, man,” Wade said. “Naw, I got a lot of good shots. I’ve played against the Pacers many times, so I know how to play against them. I just missed a lot of shots I normally hit. It’s just one of those nights.”

If the Pacers keep this up, I can assure you that they can make a playoff spot and beg that Bulls go on a losing streak, no disrespect to you Bulls fan out there (sorry MJ).

Pacers fans, hope is really what we need. And that is a big word. Can we make the playoffs? Can we go to the NBA finals? There is only one word to that answer. And you all know what it is.

That is, my friends, is HOPE.