Can't believe they called that obvious charge on Lebron. That ref is gonna get an earful from David Stern. He made up for it, I guess, by ignoring the obvious foul on George Hill's 3-pointer
Lebron has the third highest PER in NBA playoff history. Peyton use to suck in the playoffs. In general Lebron has played at a high level.
If the Pacers are gonna have any chance of winning, Danny Granger is going to have to make it his personal mission to get in LeBron's face every time on the defensive end. He's not known as a defensive stopper, but he's the only one with enough athleticism and size to have a chance of slowing down LeBron. They need to play great help defense also like they were in the first quarter for the entire game.
Paul George and Danny Granger must step up if the Pacers want a fighting chance. And Jesus Christ Frank Vogal, it's the playoffs. You have to take risks. Put Hibbert back in the game earlier and this is a different ball game.
Not possible. He will end up fouling out. One Pacer fouled out, another 2 with 5, another one with 4, so on and so forth. Good luck Indy, good luck. Maybe Vogel shouldn't have spoken out after all.
Have to admit LeBron's impact is unreal. Forget about points, he had Melo shooting 35% on him and now Granger was 1/10. That's the biggest impact he has
I still have a hard time understanding how Wade can create space for himself by kicking David West in the groin, and the foul is on West. I am not disputing that the Pacers played incredibly poorly and choked. More even officiating would have helped them keep their composure, though. I fully expect every single game to have a tie or a Pacer lead at some point in the 4th quarter. This will not be easy.
Now that the Pacers can game-plan, things should get real hard for the Heat. Pacers clearly aren't ready for prime time but they should be ready to capitalize on this gift injury.
They had a week to game plan. Their series ended 2 days earlier. Sure, if the Heat continue to hit 0 3s, and Wade continue to shoot like he's Allen Iverson who's past his prime. That's entirely possible. People have to understand the Heat literally SUCKED in this game. Couldn't make one 3, their superstars missed a bunch of wide open midrange Js, shot 40%. They won this game purely with defense (and luckily Granger is scared of this stage, and Lebron). This series would be much more interesting if they had a guy who is willing to go AT the Heat down the stretch. But the Pacers don't.
You have to realize that the Heat have absolutely DESTROYED the Pacers this year with LBJ at the 4 position. With Bosh down, it forces LBJ to play at the 4 more and the Pacers have no answers for that. But they do need Bosh to win the whole thing. If Bosh is out for a month or more, their championship hopes are done as they won't be able to beat OKC/Spurs. The West teams have too much offensive firepower that 2 superstars won't be able to beat them. The East teams simply don't have the offensive firepower to scare the Heat defensively.
I think you are overconfident. Knowing Bosh won't play, Pacers and Celts will bog down Miami's offense and make it tough for them to score. In the half-court, Bosh is extremely important. Not having to guard whoever else is on the floor as tightly will let opponents squeeze the Big 2 even harder. The Heat's half-court efficiency will decline as the playoffs progress. At the same time, the Pacers must focus on not allowing fast breaks. I will be surprised if the Pacers don't win games 3 & 4 at home.
Add game 2 to that prediction. Let's go Indy! Hibbert is going to kick the Heat's midget big men in the nuts next game.
“When you think of Miami, you usually think of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James,” Granger said. “Chris Bosh is another really, really good player. But it really didn't cross my mind. We were just fully focused on not letting those two [Wade and James] go off.” I'm sure that was their game plan all along. That was why Bosh went off the way he did in the first half. Furthermore, this forced Bron/Wade to attack and attack relentlessly even if they didn't shoot well (they shot a combined 20-49 -> 40%, pretty bad for 2 of the most efficient players in this league). Sure, their fg% will decline without Bosh, but if they just keep attacking and getting to the line, the Pacers will be overwhelmed due to their lack of offensive firepower. But we'll see. I really wish the Pacers bring it though, b/c the Eastern playoffs has sucked balls for me personally. The Western playoffs are more intriguing. UPDATE: Joseph Goodman from the Miami Herald says that "whispers" around the Heat organization is that bosh is done for this series, and possibly for the entire playoffs. http://blogs.herald.com/miami_heat/ Wow, I guess that ring continues to elude Lebron.
Chris Bosh out indefinitely. I don't think they can beat Boston without Bosh. Will definitely make this Pacers series a lot tougher.
