Man this doesn’t look good right now. All season long the Miami Heat have been sub-par on the road. Now they’re caught playing away and with Chris Bosh sitting out due to injury. the result? An embarrassing loss on the road to the Indiana Pacers at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis that followed a home field losing loss in American Airlines Arena.
Injuries could kill this playoff run. Besides Bosh, it seems that Dwyane Wade isn’t in good shape either. Obviously slowed,Wade hit only 2 0f 13 shots, a stat that doomed the Heat in this game. Even with Bosh out a healthy Wade and James could probably push the issue against the Pacers, but just LeBron? Ain’t happening.
The Miami Heat somehow have to find a way to get this thing done if they don’t want to go back to Miami with no margin for error. For the second season in a row the Heat have been the class of the Eastern Conference but find themselves fighting for their life. While the made it to the Finals last season, that whole idea seems to be a long shot now.
So what do we do now? We simply wait for the Heat to dig down and hope there’s something there. The Indiana Pacers are a big challenge, having proven they can play tough, play together, and play all game. The Miami Heat have to do the same thing. No more relying on The Big Three because they just aren’t on the court together and healthy.
After a stunning Game 2, the Miami Heat have only a fingernail grip on their fate and are now headed out on the road to Indiana. It’s there we’ll find out what this team is made of and if this whole assemblage of raw talent can do what it was put together to do, which is win an NBA Championship. It’s possible that injury and failure to grasp opportunity could derail this train ride.
The Indiana Pacers came into American Airlines Arena and played defense in crucial situations, preventing either LeBron James or Dwyane Wade from coming through on a clutch play when it was really needed, despite the 52 points they put up between them. Even more disturbing was the fact that James missed a pair of free throws, and Wade failed to follow through on a layup opportunity that could have changed the complexion of the game. If there’s anything that NBA Champions do, it’s capitalize on opportunities. These were missed and it cost the Miami Heat dearly.
So come Thursday night the Miami Heat will have to deal with the Pacers on their own turf. Chris Bosh is still an unknown fact. What the Heat should now realize is that if they expect to come out and deal with the Indiana Pacers on their own terms, they’ll have to beat them on their own terms, by playing better defense than they have been. The offensive showcase is nice but at some point the Pacers have to be stopped.
Well, Game 1 is in the books and the Miami Heat have claimed a win over the Indiana Pacers in American Airlines Arena. The good news is that with their backs to the wall the Miami Heat turned to LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and they responded in a big way. James put up 32 points and Wade another 29 in a second half that simply belonged to the Heat’s dynamic duo.
On the bad side, Chris Bosh is out with an abdominal injury that at this point remains unknown as to it’s severity. Bosh was having a decent game, with 13 points in the first half, before he was pulled.
Things were running pretty much neck and neck in this game before the Heat caught fire. David West and Roy Hibbert led the charge for the Indiana Pacers, who are seen by many as a possible title contender with their strong play to end the season.
But the Heat were having none of it last night. Play resumes on Tuesday night in American Airlines Arena.
The Miami Heat finally knocked off those pesky Knicks and they did it in front of a home crowd last night, winning 106-94 and now it’s time for ……..Pacers vs Heat tickets. Yes, the Miami Heat will be welcoming the Indiana Pacers to American Airlines Arena on Sunday, May 13th for the next series in what we hope will be a historic season for the Miami Heat.
The Indiana Pacers faced their own challenges to get here, taking 5 games against the Orlando Magic before finally putting them away. perhaps the most surprising was an opening game loss in Indiana. A tough Game 4, which resulted in a 101-99 win in overtime on the home court of the Magic was also somewhat of a surprise. But Indiana has been playing good basketball and the fact is they won fopur straight and now face the huge challenge of beating the Miami Heat at home. That hasn’t been easy to do this season and that home court advantage may be the biggest factor in favor of the Miami Heat.
And so the next round begins on Sunday with Pacers at Heat tickets becoming the talk of Miami. there’s a real feel in the air that the Heat will prevail this time and win an NBA Championship, especially since the Bulls are weakened and wavering. Who’ll they’ll face coming out of the West is still up in the air but this conference championship is there for the Heat to take.
As usual my predictive powers, which have been labeled as “nonexistent” and “laughable” were on full display this week as I predicted the Miami Heat would win Game 4 in New York and the Miami Heat would get some much needed rest. Needless to say that repose will have to be delayed as the New York Knicks pulled off their first playoff win in over a decade. Figures it would come against the traveling Heat.
I would have liked to have seen a sweep of the New York Knicks if only because they suck so badly and the Miami Heat are in dire need of a string of road wins to get their traveling confidence up. But it didn’t happen and it is what it is. The bright side of this whole thing is that it brings another playoff game into American Airlines Arena where fans will get another chance to enjoy their Heat playoff tickets. It isn’t going to change a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.
Miami will get out of this series intact and move on to play in the next round, more than likely against the Indiana Pacers, who will present their own set of problems with which the Heat will have to deal. For now, let’s enjoy the next game at home in Miami and then we’ll start thinking about the Indiana Pacers.