You haven't seen the Miami defense. Outside of the Mavs last year, Sixers/Celts/Bulls all shot poorly, and scored low v. them in the playoffs. The Heat defense is top 2 in this league. You would need a superstar to beat that defense, and Melo did that for a game. Drose also only did it for a game last year also. And some stats for u in terms of the Heat if you think they're playing even decent. 1 for 22 on 3s first 2 games. ONE THREE. No role players scored more than 5 points in game 2. Trust me, if the Pacers have room to improve, the Heat have just as much even if just by playing the percentages. Regardless if both teams shoot better or not, like pacertom said, the games will be close in the 4th. Who does Indiana have to rely on in the 4th? Both games came down to the 4th quarter.
The story line seems to be that the Heat choked, but is that even accurate? Two Pacers shooting 80% on the season from the line combined to miss 4 straight free throws in the 4th quarter (West, George). 8 misses on the night, to 9 for the Heat. The Pacers had more turnovers, and also had by my estimation more careless, unforced turnovers. The Pacers won this game with good defense, some intestinal fortitude, and some luck that Miami made almost as many bad plays as they did down the stretch. The Pacers had awful offense for 3+ quarters and this was not even an above average game for them. The bench downright sucked. Barbosa did the most and he was a -18 on the plus/minus. Hopefully the PACERS can get out of this slump, this offensive funk that they are in, and really start to play well again. Will Danny Granger suck on offense all series? Lebron seems to be in his head, for sure. He did have a 25/9 game in their last regular season matchup, though. Since George and Granger are guarding Wade or Lebron every waking minute, I won't get too worked up over their lack of offense. They do have 9 teammates who have scored in double figures at one time or another this year.
Miami is a better defensive team than Indiana. The Heat force turnovers, that's part of their defense. Shooting sub 40% v. the Heat isn't something out of the ordinary. Teams shot 42% v. the Heat as a whole in the reg. season. And the Pacers shoot 43% as a team during the reg. season. So they can shoot a "little bit" better, but what do you expect them to shoot? 45-46%? They didn't do that all year average-wise. So I don't know if it's a slump, or it's bad shooting team facing a great defensive team. The Heat, sans Bosh, aren't this bad of a shooting team. 1-22 on 3s. They will shoot better. And the Heat are infinitely better when they make their 3s. Yes, both teams choked at the line. But Wade missed a WIDE OPEN layup that would have tied the game. WIDE OPEN. That's what kids do in practice in elementary school for fun. He missed it. That's choking. But again, if games are tight and in the 4th, pacertom, I ask you this question: who do the Pacers go to? Both games, they scored 16 and 17 points, respectively in the 4th. James/Wade outscored them both by themselves in that quarter.
Pacertom - Based on your screen name, I'd say you're probably a little bit bias here and giving the pacers way too much credit.
After game 1 of the Finals last year, I said that if Miami keeps up that level of 48 minute defensive pressure the entire series, the Mavs had no chance. I was skeptical they could and it didn't happen. I believe you have the same song, 2nd verse in this Pacers series now that Bosh is gone. The Heat (specifically LeBron) have a good chance of wearing down as the series progresses. Their 4th quarter defense may not be so dynamic going forward. For that matter, their full game effort might decline because there is only so much even two freakish human beings like LeBron and Wade can do. Based on his comments, LeBron seems to be concerned about fatigue. If the Pacers play better offense at home than they did in Miami, the Heat are in serious trouble. It isn't a matter of Granger getting his. The Pacers don't need that to happen. I also think the Pacers defense against the Big 2 will improve as the series wears on. If the Heat end up pounding the Pacers the next 3 games, good for them. I can appreciate any team overcoming serious adversity in the playoffs.
just announced: Larry Bird won NBA executive of the year. He is the only person ever to win league MVP, coach of the year, and executive of the year awards. well-earned!
Given your posting history regarding the Heat, I think you shouldn't worry about calling other posters biased.
people definitely underestimating the pacers on here. vogel is a legit coach - he may not be getting great offense out of his team, but he is motivating the hell out of them to come to play. i think the pacers were a threat to win the series even before bosh went down - with him out and after stealing game 2, why would you be at all shocked if the heat lost this series? someone kept talking about how the heat are playing 2 on 9...if that's really your analysis of this series thus far, then how in the world can you argue that the heat have any chance of winning this series?
they do switch and close out better than every other team but what makes them a good defensive team is that they get away with a lot of grabbing and bumping and rarely get fouls on them. when the stern minions allowed indiana to play the same style of defense, well, you saw the result. also, Indy has not been hitting their averages at the line. I guess the heat defense has been stellar at the line too. =)
MARIO CHALMERS WAS FOULED ON THAT LAST SHOT!!! Refs giving the game to the pacers. Well, at least they won 1. They won't win another. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/14184/was-chalmers-fouled-on-last-second-shot
Also only wade and james scored more than 5 points in the game for the Heat. Doubtful the Heat bench will do that again. Heat in 5. Guaranteed.
Your prediction is going to fail. Heat in 7 maybe. I doubt Shane scores more than 5 points again. He is the biggest mistake the heat made along with miller.
The Heat bench did score only 11 points last night. In their last 5 playoff games their average is... 12! The Pacers bench scored only 18 points last night. In their last 5 playoff games their average is 26. So yes, normal play from the bench will help... the Pacers
TrollTown - based on your posting history, I'd say the only Sac you are on is Lebron's Miami is in big trouble. They now have no inside presence, which is a great combination with their non-existant outside shooting. The Pacers are a great defenisve team and will probably take it to 7...But I can't see Stern or the officials letting their cash cow get knocked out this early.
Physically the Pacers match up well against the Heat. Perfect height and speed, probably better than Boston. But the Pacers' offense and defense are not better than Boston, and not good enough to take the series from Miami. Last night was an analogy - boxers need to put their opponents away, because if they let them stick around they increase their odds of beating them. The Heat did not do this.
