RealGM

May 18, 2014
3:30 PM EST
Bankers Life Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, IN

The Skinny

Well, here we are. After taking a devastating game 7 loss last year in Miami, the Pacers came out determined in 2014 to improve the team and grab the #1 seed so as to not suffer the same fate 2 years in a row, and that’s what they’ve done. The Pacers are now exactly where they wanted to be with homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals, but it’s not over yet. The Pacers need to beat the Heat to move on to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000. They Pacers suffered a brutal 7 game series against the Atlanta Hawks and a just as strenuous 6 game series against the Wizards culminating against the Heat, who have only lost 1 game in the entire playoffs. Can the Pacers finally overcome the Heat? Or will LeBron and co. be one step closer to a 3-peat?

The Lineups

Point Guard

After 6 games of guarding Bradley Beal and John Wall, George Hill can finally breathe a sigh of relief. He’ll now be charged with guarding Mario Chalmers, who is not nearly as good as the aforementioned two, but still has burned the Pacers in the past with his 3 point shooting and his ability, to put it bluntly, flop.

Shooting Guard

The Heat managed Dwayne Wade’s playing time constantly throughout the season for this very moment. The Heat will need him to keep the always enigmatic Lance in check, who always seems to bring his best against the Heat. Lance struggled against the Wizards, but he’ll need to step up is play if the offense is to run smoothly.

Small Forward

Here’s the primetime matchup that will determine the series. Paul George has shown flashes of MVP level brilliance in his 39 point game against the Wizards, but at other points in the series he’s been non-existent, relying on iso ball or David West to bail him out. His matchup, LeBron James, may not have been the MVP this year, but he’s no less dominant. Paul George will need to play shutdown defense to slow down the player that turns the wheels for the Heat. No LeBron means no wins for the Heat, and that starts with Paul George.

Power Forward

You can never be to sure who will start at power forward for the Heat, but considering the way Udonis Haslem played in previous games in the regular season against the Pacers, I’d bet on him starting. David West continues to be the backbone of the Pacers and carried them to a game 6 win that sealed their trip to the ECF with a 30 point performance. His mid-range game is the best in the business and his pick and roll game won’t be stopped. David West never seems to falter on the big stage, so I expect no less from him now.

Center

Roy Hibbert always shows up against the Heat and he continues to be the bane of every Heat fan’s existence. Now should be no different. Greg Oden was brought in to slow down Hibbert, but he is still the injury proned big man that we all remember from his Portland days. The key for Hibbert will be to not get sucked out of the paint to guard Bosh’s threes. In fact, we might see Hibbert guard Udonis Haslem so he can remain in the paint while the more mobile David West chases Chris Bosh around.

The Bench




Both benches are entirely transparent every time these two teams play, it seems. Outside of Luis Scola’s mid range game, everything about the Indiana bench have been the definition of unreliable. Ray Allen continues to light it up from 3 for the Heat, while the rest of the bench remains just as bad as the Pacers’ bench.

Injury Report

Pacers
None

Miami Heat
None

The Tradition

Finally the moment of truth. Hopefully the guys are ready to stop having letdowns and play every game to win. Vogel needs to adjust his philosophy for 20 mins a game. put 5 scorers on the court and dont worry too much about defense. Allow the starters to get a little breather. Use Cope and Scola with Sloan Watson and Turner all on the floor together for 10 mins each in the first and second halves. Best time to use them is last 5 mins of the 1st and first 5 or 6 mins of the 2nd quarters. And then the last 5 mins of the 3rd and maybe the first 3 to 5 mins of the fourth. Allow them to play a run and gun spacing offensive game that is more free flowing for 10 mins a half and they will likely keep the game close or build a lead; allowing the starters to not have to become over worked and will likely end the one quarter droughts that seem to be fatigue caused lapses. Its def worth a shot. This is the moment that Indy has an opportunity to shock the world. There's nothing to lose. Shoot for the MOOn!!! Find a way to get Cope on the floor!!!!!!!!!!

Hill/Sloan
Stephenson/Watson
George/Turner
West/Optimus Cope
Hibbert/Scola

One series won't be like the others. This one. Hibbert, we'll need you for seven games (well, less if you can manage it). No more 0 pt, 0 rebound games. Miami knows that Indy was projected to be their ECF rival ever since Rose blew out his other hookup. They'll be prepared. Indy must be prepared too. Don't take Miami for granted.

I picked you guys to win the chip a long time ago. PG has to believe he is better than LBJ even if its not true. Your big four, PG, Hibbert, Lance, and West has to play better than there big three. Thats not far fetched. You guys just cant let some Miami roll player get hot from three. Good luck fellas.

What are we going to do without Bynum? We're toast!!!!!!!

Miami is vulnerable. They've been heavily reliant on Lebron this postseason. Wade is a shell of himself and Bosh has been rather unimpressive. Pacers need to dig in and go back to their defensive roots...if they take game 1 they'll have a legitimate shot at winning the series. I'll be pulling for you guys come Sunday.

We'll end up splitting games 1 and 2 and I think we'll take one in Miami too. I bet we'll see the series at 2-2 going back to Indy for game 5.

No matter what happens, this series is going to 7.

Every home game this series will be a gold out.

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Miami could be looking at extensively using Bosh or going small to keep Hibbert out of the game. I hope Vogel has learned from the first round series with Atlanta. Miami will not look into engaging in the paint that much, and we could see James Jones and Shane Battier get serious burn off the bench.

I just hope we can deny their shooters the chances to take shots. I still think defense is the key for this series. Defense will dictate our offense, and we can easily get momentums out of crucial defensive plays.

Also, I hope the guys still have the same mentality they had in their last game against Washington wherein they all looked serious, notably Lance.

GO PACERS! BEAT THE HEAT!

Good luck, guys. Everyone is sick of the Miami Heat. IF the refs call a fair series, and the Pacers are motivated, you guys have a great shot.

Evan Turner is inactive with "strep throat", Solomon Hill will be active.

I think Vogel is just fed up with Turner's play, there's no way he's inactivating him because of strep if he was playing well.

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Also, Oden is inactive. No surprise there.

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The first half went just about perfectly, outside of a lot of turnovers.

Lance is locked in though. He and Wade always play really well against each other.

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Lance should call more people out if he's going to play like that. Hell yeah Lance!! Keep it up for the rest of the playoffs!

Im loving the way Stephenson is playing. If he keeps playing like this we have a good chance. Also G. Hill is playing well. He needs to stay aggressive. If the guards stay aggressive they wont be able to overload on the paint passes.

Keep going to the POST, HEAT ARE SOFT down there.

Mahinmi Needs to sit the rest of the game for those last 3 plays. Gets blocked; then doesnt catch the pass that hits his hands; and then gets dunked on off the alley-oop to Birdman. Dude is flat out being disrespected and ruining it for us.

Please Put in Scola; or Lavoy Allen.

That was a great game. The ball movement was beautiful to see and we were making our open looks. Very smart interior passing as well.

The defense on LeBron and Wade could be better, though. We will need to do a better job defensively from here on out but this game was great and I'm obviously not going to complain about anything

SmashMouthRod wrote:Mahinmi Needs to sit the rest of the game for those last 3 plays. Gets blocked; then doesnt catch the pass that hits his hands; and then gets dunked on off the alley-oop to Birdman. Dude is flat out being disrespected and ruining it for us.

AGREED 100% . I hate to admit it, but I am panicking when he's on the court. I think he's kept in there for defensive purposes. Not a bad idea. Just don't pass him the ball unless he's open. I think L. Allen should get a shot for a few plays on D and O to see how he can help. He's young, athletic and big. He might outplay Chris bosh the way things are going jk.

We need to continue this momentum all the way to our FIRST RING !1

LET'S GO PACERS MAN!! LET'S GO PACERS!!!!