Miami Heat look to eliminate Indiana Pacers and move on to Eastern Conference Finals - NBA Preview
The Miami Heat will face the Indiana Pacers Thursday at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse for game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semi Finals. Miami delivered a blow out defeat to the Pacers in game 5 to take a 3-2 lead in the series. However, game 5 was a game to
remember for ages.
After a lot of off court exchanges and a few stare downs and technical fouls, the series actually got physical with three flagrant – 1 fouls. The NBA reviewed the decision and upgraded all three to Flagrant 2. In addition, they suspended Udonis Haslem for
1 game and Dexter Pittman for 3 games. Now, Miami will play game 6 without both Chris Paul and Udonis Haslem, leaving them weak in the frontcourt.
Haslem had a good game 4 and 5 for the Miami team and helped them win both games. He had 10 points and 6 rebounds in game 5 and contributed 14 points and 4 rebounds in game 4. His loss will be a blow to Miami as they look to finish the series in Indiana.
The whole series has been marred with incidents. Miami won game 1 but lost Chris Bosh when he suffered a sprained stomach muscle. They were beaten by the Pacers in game 2 and 3 as they had no answer for Indiana’s size advantage. Dwyane Wade also struggled
in game 2 and 3 but came back strong in game 4 as the Heat evened the series. Wade had 30 points and 9 rebound in the win. Game 5 was also taken by the Heat.
Indiana Pacers lost Danny Granger in the 3rd quarter of game 5 after he twisted his ankle after stepping on LeBron James’ foot. He is a game time decision for game 6.
“In my mind, I'm going to play. Elimination game, I have to play” said Granger.
The Pacers have been beaten on the offense by the Heat in the last two games. James and Wade have been having a treat and the Pacers have been unable to match their offensive scoring.
Roy Hibbert had a big game 3 but has been subdued since then. For the Pacers to win, they need to play with more energy and get good looks to improve their scoring. Also, the Pacers are being outrebounded by the Heat team, even though they were considered
a better defensive team than the Heat coming into the series.
After hard calls on the flagrant fouls of game 5 by the NBA, it will be interesting to see how both teams approach the game. There has been a lot of drama around the whole series, with players taking shots at each other. One thing is for sure, it will be
a very physical game. The review by the NBA on the flagrant fouls will not have much effect and the team who plays with more intensity is going to win.
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