Eastern Conference Finals: (1) Indiana vs. (2) Miami

Isn't it amazing how easy Miami can win games when one of those other "Star" players isn't playing like garbage?

 

When Wade looked gimpy there was plenty of doubt. When Indy looked great, prior to them imploding, there was plenty of doubt. There was doubt after they got blasted in G1 of this series.

Wade spent half of this season injured or being rested. The core will be one year older next season.

 

I enjoy the Onion. Usually they aren't so truthful though.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/miami-heat-confident-they-have-the-right-officiati,36090/

NDIANAPOLIS—After rallying to tie the Eastern Conference Finals at one game apiece, members of the Miami Heat expressed their confidence Wednesday that they have the right officiating to ultimately overcome the Indiana Pacers.

“Indiana’s a great team, no question, but at the end of the day I think we have the right group of refs on the court to push us to the win,” Heat small forward LeBron James told reporters, adding that late in the game the team can always depend on officials to get them to the foul line.

“In a tight series, you need to get the big whistles when it counts, and fortunately guys like [referee Joey] Crawford always deliver for us. They’re obviously great during the regular season too, but they’re really clutch in the playoffs.”

James went on to say that in the final seconds of a close contest, he trusts the refs to make the game-winning call.

 

Did they also do a pro Miami piece after the Pacers shot all those FT's in G1?

 

Who cares if Bosh posts bad stats? He's still a solid defender, and as bad as he was at least he wasn't putting up 0 pts 0 reb nights like a certain someone. Unlike Miami Pacers only have a big 2, so if Hibbert doesn't show up they will definitely get their ass kicked. Miami didn't just have bad performance from Bosh, they also had the Birdman injured so the trashing they gave the Pacers is just the ultimate beating IMHO.

 

Probably his teammates, since they went to him pripr to G4 to prop him up for his bad play.

We have different definitions of solid. I think he is solid in some areas but very weak in others, which is why we see West and Scola continue to mop the floor with him. He offests his weakness on that side of the ball by making open shots and spacing the floor, but he wasn't making the shots earlier (in this series).

And Bosh had 0 pts and 7 boards in G7 of the 2013 Finals. They still managed to win.

 

yesterday, this was a warning:

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MIA -6.5 vs. IND 183.5 O/U

This is the HEAT friendliest ref crew in the entire NBA. The Heat are 20-2 in games refereed by Capers in the LeBron era.

Danny Crawford is so advanced in Heat games ESPN made an article on it. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/mia...he-1-9-percent

Sean Corbin is trendwise and statistically the #1 Homer ref in the NBA. http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pag...feree_ats.html

CREW MATCHUP RECORD -- Home Team ATS 3-0, O/U 2-1, Total 182.3pts AVG

Home Team ATS 5-9.5pts
Danny Crawford -- 11-12
James Capers -- 13-9
Marc Davis -- 9-12
Sean Corbin -- 22-7

Home Team ATS All Games
Danny Crawford -- 39-34-2
James Capers -- 34-36
Marc Davis -- 35-37-3
Sean Corbin -- 43-25-1

Home Team W/L All Games
Danny Crawford -- 46-29
James Capers -- 42-28
Marc Davis -- 41-34
Sean Corbin -- 48-21

O/U 184.5pts or less
Danny Crawford -- 3-3
James Capers-- 11-12
Marc Davis -- 15-15
Sean Corbin -- 1-4

This might be the easiest play on Miami all year. They go up 3-1 tonight barring some extra incredible magic from the Pacers.

Ref crews don't support one team more than this crew backs the Heat.

http://www.covers.com/postingforum/post01/showmessage.aspx?spt=22&sub=101895188&page=1

 

I don't disagree that officiating crews can influence the game, but the game was called fairly well until the final 4 minutes or so. In fact, LeBron should've shot more FTs because he was fouled so many times on his drives but he never got the and-1 because he made those fouls look like love taps.

Yeah, it sucks when your team is down in the series, but the Pacers have constantly underwhelmed this postseason. One could argue that they had help from the refs along the way, so I wouldn't be pointing fingers.

 

tom...regardless of how poor the officiating was, the Pacers were in striking distance entering the 3 quarter....And what has been their best quarter throughout the season, the Pacers managed to forget how to play defense at the rim and let Lebron just cruise right on by to the rim. Secondly, I distinctly remember several shots that Miami had at the rim, but I cant even think of moments where the Pacers decided to just get to the rim. Listen, I dont care much for Miami at all, but last night's loss was a Pacer collapse. They tried to close the gap in the 4th, but it was too late...

The Pacers have had bigger problems than the refs...They have been a total jeckyl and Hyde team throughout the playoffs and almost lost to the Atlanta Hawks...The Pacers are a flawed team...they need changes. And Lebron and the Heat are gonna force management to address how your starting "allstar" center gives you goose eggs in the playoffs...

 

I'm not saying the Pacers don't have plenty of their own problems or even that many of those problems are not more significant than was the officiating. But the officiating was still an abomination.

And then you hear made-up crap like the allegation that Paul George had zero drives all game. Duh.... look at the play-by-play

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=400558917&period=0

5:24 2nd quarter, Paul George makes driving dunk
3:46 2nd quarter, Paul George makes dunk
0:03 3rd quarter, Paul George draws shooting foul on drive
6:15 4th quarter, Paul George makes driving layup

 

Pacertom, even Scola scoffed at blaming the refs. He said that it couldn't be the refs when they lost by double digits. Your ref complaints are really off point and do both the pacers and the heat a disservice.

 

I wish that George and West had publicly said what Scola said, knowing full well that, in private, something else was true. It's the mature, savvy, veteran thing to do.

 

5:24 - transition, was off a steal, no defender, that's not a drive
3:46 - caught an inbound 2 feet from the rim and dunked it, that's not a drive either
0:03 - George was fouled (interesting term to call what happened) 20 feet from the basket, again not a drive
6:15 - transition, care to guess what this isn't?

 

Paul George makes driving dunk

Paul George makes driving layup

I guess your beef is with ESPN stats, who disagree with you 100%

 

And the nba's official stats disagree with you

A transition play is not a drive, it's not counted as one for anybody, that he made no drives was pulled from the SportsVU data, which is what the league and teams use.

Play by play data doesn't have transition at all, but if you really think being 5 feet in front of everyone counts as being aggressive on offense, then i really don't know.

I don't even like miami, but the more aggressive team got rewarded, shock horror.

 

The whole point is this: when give the opportunity, did players take a weak fadeaway jumper or instead attack the basket.

I ask you, look at #24 as he catches the ball. Does he settle for a weak fadeaway jumper, or does he split a double team, take a dribble to the basket, and dunk it in traffic?

It isn't hard.

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Lance Stephenson: Lesson learned