Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images(MIAMI) --  The Indiana Pacers made clutch plays down the stretch, and it earned them home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference finals.

Roy Hibbert scored 29 points, Paul George added 22 as the Pacers defeated the Miami Heat 97-93 to even their best-of-seven series at one game each.

LeBron James led the Heat with 36 points but had two key turnovers down the stretch that ultimately cost them the game.  David West made a key defensive play with under a minute left, swatting the ball away from James when he tried to drive the lane.

“This whole team is just showing great desire and heart and belief,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “They believe they can win this series, and they’re giving it all their might. They’re rising to the challenge. I’m very, very proud of them. We look like a true team.”

Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh combined to score 31 for the defending champs, who have lost for just the fourth time in their last 50 games.

Game three is Sunday in Indianapolis.

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Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images (NEW YORK) --  The Chicago Bears announced Friday that they will retire Mike Ditka's No. 89 on Dec. 9 during halftime of their game against the Dallas Cowboys at Soldier Field.

"Mike Ditka embodies the spirit of everything the Bears are about," Bears chairman George H. McCaskey said to the team's website.

Ditka's No. 89 will be the 14th number retired by the Bears.  He played for them from 1961-66 before coming back to coach the team from 1982-92.  Ditka is the only person in the NFL's modern era to win a Super Bowl title for the same team both as a player and a coach.

As a player, Ditka ranks first in Bears history among tight ends and fourth overall with 4,502 receiving yards, fifth with 316 catches and 34 touchdowns. He was also a two-time All-Pro and six-time Pro-Bowler.

"To have your jersey retired, it's something that if I went through my life and it never happened, it would never change the love I had for what I had in Chicago playing for the Bears," Ditka said on "Mike & Mike in the Morning" on ESPN Radio. "But it's certainly a tremendous honor when you think about the guys who have [had their numbers] retired. "

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Joe Robbins/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Brett Favre last played quarterback for the Green Bay Packers in 2007, and current Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers thinks it time for both sides to heal their fractured relationship.

"It's been too long," Rodgers said. "You know, our country and the state of Wisconsin, these people are a people of second and third and fourth chances. I think it's time to let the healing process begin for those who are still upset for what went down."

Back in 2008, the team traded Favre to the New York Jets after Favre once again decided to come out of retirement. He wanted to keep playing for the Packers, but the team had Rodgers waiting in the wings and the team was ready to move on.

While the relationship ended on a sour note, it is hard to overlook Favre's accomplishments with the team. For 16 seasons, Favre was one of the best quarterbacks of his era. He won a Super Bowl with the team during the 1996 season and won three MVP awards.

Favre last played for the Packers arch-rival Minnesota Vikings and retired following the 2010 season.

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Ronald Martinez/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Even though the Dallas Cowboys have underperformed under head coach Jason Garrett, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones is standing behind him.

In his first two full seasons with the Cowboys, the team has gone just 8-8 back-to-back years. He is also entering the third year of his four-year contract. While some are putting Garrett on the hot seat, Jones doesn't see it that way.

"Well, no, he's not ... to the last question: Is Jason coaching for his job? No," Jones told the NFL Network. "What we're doing is taking the assets that we have, and Jason being right at the top and certainly our premier asset, and we're using them to the best of our ability."

While he served as an assistant coach with the team, Garrett was a much heralded coaching prospect, but it has yet to translate on the field. Despite a talented roster, the team has yet to reach the playoffs under Garrett. The team did have the sixth rated offense in 2012, but also had the 19th ranked defense.

Garrett is reportedly considering relinqueshing the play-calling duties to assistant head caoch Bill Callahan, or another coach on the staff, for the upcoming season.

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Chris Graythen/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The Arizona Cardinals signed their third round draft pick Tyrann Mathieu to a four-year contract Thursday.

“I never doubted it,” Mathieu said on the team's website when talking about signing an NFL contract. “I knew it was a long shot and it would be a process, but to finally sit down and sign my name on the dotted line means a lot to me.”

League sources told ESPN's Ed Werder that Mathieu will receive a $662,500 guarenteed signing bonus.

A source of ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter said Mathieu will receive $265,000 upfront with the rest of the money coming through annual roster bonuses.

Mathieu becomes the sixth of the Cardinals nine draft picks to sign.

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