Indiana Pacers can brag all they want; Miami Heat are just too good for them – NBA Feature
Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel can call them floppers and he can go about telling the whole world that his team can match the Miami Heat come Sunday night, but the fact is that when the men from the South Beach enter their backyard tonight, there won’t be a place for the Pacers to hide.
Heat have been the team to beat this season and judging by the ease with which they disposed off the star studded New York Knicks, the Pacers do not really stand a chance in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The Game – 1will start with the NBA Commissioner David Stern giving the MVP award to LeBron James. The King has undoubtedly been the best player this season, and this award will be his third in four years. But, given that James hasn’t won the NBA title as yet despite being the best basketball player of his generation, it will be a folly to think that he will be satisfied just with that.
“I’m all about team. That’s all I care about. That’s all I know,” James said. “This game is all about team. And the ultimate team goal and the ultimate team trophy is the gold ball we see at the end of June every year.”
In all previous such incidences, a third time MVP has gone on to win the NBA title and the way LeBron James has geared up for the series, averaging 27.8 points on a 47.8 shooting, 6.2 rebounds and 5.6 assist per game in the first round, the Pacers are in for some big time drubbing. For James, Indiana is just another team standing between him and a ring and he will not leave any stone unturned to humiliate them.
He is not alone. Wade didn’t live up to his billing in the Knicks series, but the fact is that he really didn’t need to with James cleaning all the slack. The winger will be more than a handful to contain for Paul George, and then there is Chris Bosh.
In this series, the Pacers will basically need to do many things which they are not capable of doing. They have to run faster than the Heat, they have to find openings in the well knitted Miami defense and have at least got to make decent number of shots to cause trouble. And even after that, they have to hope that James or Wade don’t pull up one of those ‘conquer all’ nights and run away with show.
Indiana does have the size advantage going into the series, but Miami have shown all season long what they can do with a small lineup. They cater for their lack of size with the hustle, strength, defensive agility and LeBron. The Pacers can’t put up Danny Granger to guard James because if they do that, they will lose their most reliable scoring option. This means that West and Tyler Hansbrough will have to take turns in guarding James, which leaves Bosh slightly open in the paint and puts more pressure on Roy Hibbert, who is the focal point of the Pacers defensive framework.
Chris Bosh knows that and he is rearing to exploit that fact;
“If something is working for me against [Hibbert], I’m going to use it,” said Bosh. “I’m not going to sit here and try to battle him and see who’s the strongest. I’m not really worried about nothing like that.
“I’m going to move around him and make him move his feet and make him run up the floor as quickly as possible and see how he guards it.”
All in all, the Pacers are massive underdogs going into the series and given they were unable to sweep a remarkably weak Orlando Magic side in the first round, it is highly unlikely that they will be able to trouble the Heat, who I personally think have even started to warm up yet.
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