RealGM

May 20, 2014
8:30 PM EST
Bankers Life Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, IN

The Skinny

Game 1 could not have gone any better for the Indiana Pacers. Shooting 52% from the field and 42% from beyond the arc with precision passing and beautiful ball movement is what Pacers fans everywhere have waited so long to see once again. Right from the tip the Pacers overpowered and outshot the Heat. Bosh and LeBron (who attempted to cover David West for most of this game) simply had no answer for the post game of Indiana which Vogel seemed to emphasize so much. Roy Hibbert may not have had the best shooting percentage, but he continued to draw fouls, getting Chris Bosh and co. into foul trouble while David West was on fire from everywhere in the paint as all Miami could do was watch. Hell, even Lance Stephenson got in on the post action by posting up LeBron for an easy 2. Now the Pacers look towards game 2. If the Heat win game 2, they will have completed their goal of splitting the 2 games away from home and they’ll have the upper hand going back to Miami for the next 2 games. But if the Pacers pull another one off, it puts them in the driver’s seat for the series and puts immense pressure on the Heat in a situation where both games 3 and 4 become must wins for them. But LeBron will be LeBron, and the Heat are far from done, the Pacers need to take care of business again at home and take an early 2-0 lead. But will Bron, Wade, and co. come back strong to tie the series up? Or will Paul George and the Pacers’ post game continue to dominate and lead them to a game 2 victory?

The Lineups

Point Guard

Game 1 Stats
George Hill - 15 points, 0 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block 3/9 shooting
Mario Chalmers - 6 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2/9 shooting
Advantage - Indiana Pacers

Shooting Guard

Game 1 Stats
Lance Stephenson - 17 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 0 blocks, 8/12 shooting
Dwyane Wade - 27 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 12/18 shooting
Advantage - Miami Heat

Small Forward

Game 1 Stats
Paul George - 24 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 0 blocks, 7/13 shooting
LeBron James - 25 points, 5 assists, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 0 blocks, 4 turnovers, 11/18 shooting
Advantage - Wash

Power Forward

Game 1 Stats
David West - 19 points, 3 assists, 7 rebounds, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 8/11 shooting
Shane Battier - 3 points, 0 assists, 2 rebounds, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1/1 shooting
Advantage - Indiana Pacers

Center

Game 1 Stats
Roy Hibbert - 19 points, 3 assists, 9 rebounds, 0 steals, 1 block, 5/13 shooting, 9/13 FTs
Chris Bosh - 9 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 4/12 shooting
Advantage - Roy Hibbert

The Bench




The only player who performed even remotely well for the Pacers was CJ Watson, who had 11 points on 3 of 4 shooting with 4 rebounds. His fast break drawing the foul and a flagrant 1 stifled a Miami Heat run that could have gotten them back in the game. He was the ultimate backup point guard and played exactly how the Pacers had envisioned when signing him. Ray Allen played decent as well, with 2 of 6 from 3 and 12 points total. Chris Andersen had 14 points and had a couple of clutch alley oops.

Injury Report

Pacers
None

Miami Heat/b]
None

[b]The Tradition

Someone edited the Miami Heat wikipedia page and changed the owner.



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Mahinmi needs to be replaced in the rotation by Lavoy Allen. The chemistry was very good in Game 1. I wonder if he is considering keeping Evan Turner inactive. I know I would at least consider it. Lavoy Allen has to be more solid than Mahinmi. I know he's a better rebounder for sure. I like the ball in Stephenson's hands more. It worked out well for us last game. Now hopefully he's creative and composed enough to handle it when Miami blitzes the pick and rolls. George Hill needs to stay aggressive as well. Indy needs to treat every game like a must win. I must admit one thing im enjoying is that all of the national media seems to be off the Pacers bandwagon which has seemed to restore the team to playing with the "nothing to lose" and "were the bad guys" mentality. Finally back to being a lunch pale team; instead of a glitz and glamour pageant/contest. Shoot for the MOON; #OneDown7WinsToGo

^ I agree on Lavoy Allen. I think Vogel opted not to play him in the first two rounds to somehow "surprise" the Heat that we still have one more capable big man in him. To me, he plays like a David West without a refined post-up game. I hope the Pacers keep him long-term and let West mentor him. He's a good midrange shooter just like West and Scola. He's very underrated IMO, but from what I've seen from him while he was at Philly, he's got real potential.
On Turner, I would say if he isn't clicking, bench him right away and let Lance do his job. Not saying we're better off Turner, but with him, the offense stops flowing as the plays starts and ends with him. Lance was incredible finding guys and our ball rotation was really good the last game. If Lance needs a breather, then it's Turner's turn, but I hope Vogel won't play him just for the sake of playing him.
Also, I don't think we can rely on our perimeter shots to fall as they did on game 1, so I hope Vogel and the guys adjust as necessary. We were pretty good attacking the rim last time and I think it should be our primary offensive option, with perimeter shots as results of kick-out passes.
Let's give them another game of smash mouth basketball. This team is built to play them. GO PACERS!

A chance to be the first team to ever go up 2-0 on the Miami big 3. The reason I gave Indiana more of a chance than most in this series is due to PG play and size down low. The Hawks and Wizards obviously do not compare to Miami, but Jeff Teague and John Wall created matchup problems for George Hill and Indiana defensively, and caused the PG position to be a liability for Indiana. With Chalmers running point for Miami, I give Hill the edge in that matchup. In my opinion, the Wizards were a matchup nightmare with Wall at point and Nene/Gortat down low. Hibbert and West have a huge advantage down low vs Miami and will cause Miami to put together uncomfortable lineups such as Haslem/Birdman when Miami is used to having as many shooters on the floor as possible. Not to mention the fact that Indiana plays with a different level of intensity vs Miami than they do vs Atlanta and Washington. Win tonight and Miami heads homes full of pressure while the Pacers will be able to play more loose and just need a split to pretty much end the series.

Moooose wrote:^ I agree on Lavoy Allen. I think Vogel opted not to play him in the first two rounds to somehow "surprise" the Heat

I really don't think we chose to come as close as we did to losing in the first or second round to create a surprise for Miami. I think there is a real chance that next year we'll have to let Scola go and Allen will move up to be West's primary backup, but right now I think he's simply behind Scola and Mahinmi. Vogel doesn't like to match down.

I do expect Miami to try to get more out of Ray Allen in their small lineup. we shouldn't be able to get away with having West guard him again.

Any updates on Evan Turner for tonight?

Any update on ET? I think he breaks out in this series if not, we always have the Finals coming up. :-0

GO PACERS !!! Hurry up 8:30ET!!

Just saw on twitter, Turner will be active tonight.

Grang33r wrote:Any updates on Evan Turner for tonight?

Honestly hope he doesn't play. Why mess up a good thing?

Yeah, Turner is active. Uh-oh.

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Pacers handing out these awesome shirts for the game tonight. Might have to buy one.

Butler in. Not Turner.

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Wizop wrote:Butler in. Not Turner.

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Good. He just hit 2 straight 3s.

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Lance is the only person playing even remotely well.

The ball needs to get to Hibbert and West (when he's on the court) down low more. The Pacers abused the Heat that way in game 1, but its been all outside shots this game.

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First to 70. Down 4 a lot better than 8 but expect James to go on run soon.

Scola missed everything but small lineup worse. Give Allen or Copeland pt?

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GET THAT MAN A NEW CONTRACT

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LANCE LANCE REVOLUTION.

PG just took a knee to the back of the head. Ouch.

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This game has changed entirely thanks to us getting hit in the face/head area a lot.