The Pacers didn't look impressive at all against Orlando. For their sakes they better hope that was due to the fact that they didn't take Orlando serious.
It sucks for Pacers fans that they didn't get Chicago or Philly so they can continue to build confidence. It would be a pleasant surprise if they don't get dominated by the Heat.
Pacers have no chance in this series. Granger will be wiped out, as he had all year v. LBJ. Bosh needs to be big v. West/Hibbert though. But those guys aren't enough to push the Heat. Heat in 5. It's boring to be the Heat right now.
I don't expect much from Granger with LeBron guarding him. Granger has been very inefficient this year. I don't think Paul George is ready for this stage just yet.
Granger and George would have to play elite-level defense on LeBron and Wade for them to have a chance.
Regular season: Jan 4, 2012 Pacers 83 Heat 118 Feb 14, 2012 Heat 105 Pacers 90 Mar 10, 2012 Pacers 91 Heat 93 Mar 26, 2012 Heat 90 Pacers 105 I think Heat in 5, Bron can defend Granger and Joel took good care of Hibbert in their past games.
I voted Pacers in 7. They will give the Heat fits on the defensive end and I think their coach will do a much better job of creating appropriate defensive schemes to deal with Lebron's "run at someone and wait for refs to make a call" strategy (hint: play zone). I really don't see anyone on the Heat being able to make any kind of jumpshot consistently. Haven't seen it all season and not at all against the Knicks. George Hill is going to kill the Heat, mark my words
he had two bad games against them and 2 good ones. Didn't get wiped out. Heat will get annihilated on the inside.
*Yawn* Only Pacers fans can be excited about this one. Pacers have been one of the most boring franchises for a long long time. Can we just cancel this series please?
Heat in 6 or 7, they will prevail but it won't be a cakewalk, Pacers are gaining momentum. Double or ball denial on LeBron, play DWade one on one with GHill (he's an effective & good on ball, man to man defender as long not in P&R situation + the opponent isn't too long/strong), and punk Bosh with West. Ofcourse, Hibber must play like a 7'2" guy should against height challenged Heat team.
trend for Pacers: 83, 90, 91, 105 trend for Heat: 118, 105, 93, 90 notice that? The Pacers offense and defense improved dramatically over the season as West's knee got better, Hill became more involved, Barbosa was added, and Amundsen got backup C minutes. I see a close series if the Pacers limit turnovers leading to Miami transition offense, trust their own offense to find the open guy rather than a designated hero, be physical in the paint, and use their much-superior depth to their advantage. The Heat should be favored, but I hope many people will be surprised about the way the Pacers will refuse to back down.
Pacers coach Vogel calls the Heat floppers http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/201...vogel-says-miami-heat-biggest-floppers-league Some evidence:
