And they're over now, right?

Probably. The Pacers have to win two in a row at the Staples Center, where they're 0-3 against the Lakers this season. But as the baseball hat that Pacers guard Mark Jackson wore read, "FAITH."

With each game of the series, the Pacers have played better, including their rousing 120-87 victory Friday night in Game 5 -- the last game of the season in their splendid retro arena that was filled with fans who still believe.

Larry Bird's tenure as a coach didn't end with opposing players dancing on his home floor, in his home state, in a place where he is revered.

But this guy clearly isn't about avoiding embarrassment. He's about winning titles.

"It's a championship or nothing," Pacers president Donnie Walsh observed of Bird earlier in the week.

So the memory of Wednesday's loss lingered with Bird in the aftermath of giving the Lakers their worst beating of the season. A 3-2 advantage would have offered the Pacers a fighting chance.

"Yeah, it's tough," Bird said. "I felt coming in that we just wanted to win two. I thought we possibly could win three here. The game the other night, we fought so hard and played so well and let it slip away. It's very disappointing, but it's great to see the guys bounce back tonight and play the same way, with the same intensity. ... We fought them."

The Pacers go back to Los Angeles feeling like the stereotypes are reversed. They are the laid-back Hoosiers. Give them shades, shorts and beach hats. Leave the teeth-grinding to the Lakers.

"We absolutely, positively have nothing to lose and everything in the world to gain," Pacers guard Reggie Miller said. "So we are going to play free, loose, we don't care. There's no pressure on us. All the pressure's on them."

Miller scored 25 points and Jalen Rose had 32, and when that happens, they are awfully tough to beat. Throw in Rik Smits' 12 points in 14 minutes, and things are looking especially good.

The Lakers were vulnerable with Kobe Bryant's woes on Friday night. This time, he was no Michael Jordan. He wasn't even the player whose performance in Game 4 prompted comparisons to Jordan.

"He's a young superstar, but the key to that is 'young,' " Rose said of Bryant. "Anytime you're a young player, you're going to have your great moments and you're going to have moments where you struggle."

The Pacers shot over 40 percent from the floor in only one of their three games against the Lakers at the Staples Center. But they're feeling like a different team now than they were in Games 1 and 2.

"That was so long ago, it seems like," Pacers forward Sam Perkins said. "It's like we have a handle on things now."

It might be too late. But there's even some bad blood developing, which never hurts a desperate team.

"We heard about the parade they had planned," Rose said. "That won't be tomorrow, though."

Pacers coach Larry Bird says the Pacers came back from a disappointing loss Wednesday to win Game 5 on Friday night.(AP)

Miller and Jackson received technical fouls in the fourth quarter when they confronted Rick Fox of the Lakers, who seems to specialize in aggravating opposing players of superior talent.

"A lot of that stuff is coming from them, which is a shock because everyone thinks they're so nice and pretty, they're the glamour boys, it's Los Angeles, Evian, cafe latte and all that junk," Miller said. "They're the ones who are doing all the pushing and hitting and holding. Then they look at the refs like they're not doing anything."

Don't look now, but the Pacers are still hanging around. They'll be here three more days, at least, still holding onto some hope. In their locker room, a standings board had this written on it:

"Pacers 4, Lakers 3."

Friday's performance showed they're not ready to write off that possibility.

"It would be nice if we could put some of the points in the bank," Miller said. "We're going to need them in L.A."