Coming into this series, the Miami Heat gave the proper lip service to respecting the Indiana Pacers, but did they really respect them? The Heat had gone 45-3 since Feb. 3, you had to wonder if the Pacers really had their attention
They do now.
The question going into this series wasn’t if the Pacers defense could make life challenging for Miami — the Pacers were the best defensive team in the NBA this season and we had seen their size and length push Miami before. They could hold their own on that end of the court
The question was on the other end — how would the Pacers score enough against Miami’s pressure defense?
Friday night they figured it out — balance. The Pacers adjusted to the Heat’s aggressiveness, had just 13 turnovers, they got the ball to Roy Hibbert and he put up 29 points to lead all five Pacers starters in double figures. The Heat couldn’t stop that balance. And we now have a 1-1 series.
The Pacers had an offensive rating of 112.7 points per 100 possesions — 11 points higher than their season average. If the Pacers keep this up, they will have more than just the Heat’s attention.
Indiana got the Game 2 win thanks to their starters — their starting five was +23 on the night (every other Pacers lineup combined to be -19). Paul George held his own with LeBron James and the Pacers gave their star better support.
While the Pacers starters were a great unit, the Heat had three guys in double figures — LeBron had another monster night 36 points, but after that you had just Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in double figures (and each shot a pedestrian 6-of-14). All of the rest of the Heat were 8-of-25 (32 percent) and 2-of-10 from three.
“Take nothing away from their big three, but we’ll take a big five any day. That’s what we have,” Paul George said after the game (via the twitter of Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post).
Hibbert was a big part of that with his size and how he fought for position much harder this game.
“He’s giving great efforts on the offensive glass, six offensive boards,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said after the game. “And he goes every single time, he doesn’t take a possession off on the glass. He gives us a lift in the post, efficient scoring, passing. Just making winning plays.”
But the other key to that was much improved play from George Hill and Lance Stephenson as the guards (Stephenson was very up and down, brilliant one moment and a mess the next). The Pacers had just 13 turnovers down from 20 in Game 1 (although it was still near 1-in-five trips down the court) and that limited the easy transition baskets for the Heat.
Miami has depth — they won 66 games this season because of great ball movement and solid play from guys like Ray Allen and Shane Battier. But outside the energy of Chris Andersen off the bench, Miami feels like three stars and some guys right now. The ball isn’t moving side-to-side — and when LeBron tried late in the game David West got his hands on them. Miami’s offense looks stagnant. They got a win with play from Andersen, but the Heat need other guys to step up.
As the game moves back to Indiana, if this series remains three on five — and two-thirds of the Heat’s three playing up and down — Indiana will have more than the Heat’s attention.
