Pacers Versus Heat: A Recap Of this Epic Series Thus Far
A Series that is Destined to be a Classic
It is clear that the Indiana Pacers are giving the Miami Heat the biggest challenge they have faced in the playoffs thus far. The Heat may have faced a very physical Chicago Bulls team in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and LeBron James quipped that the Bulls were one of the toughest teams to eliminate that he had ever squared off against in his career. However, James may now want to revise that statement as the Pacers have pushed them to the brink in the last two games of the Eastern Conference Finals.
In Game 1 the Heat found themselves down with only single digit seconds left to play. One bad decision by Pacer’s coach, Frank Vogel, gave James the opportunity to drive down the lane and get an easy layup to win the game by one point. In Game 2 the Pacers turned up the heat on Miami. David West stifled James’ play making abilities by knocking away two passes that James attempted to dish out in the final minuet of the game. By the time the clock ran out the Pacers won the game to even the series at 1-1, 97-93.
Perhaps channeling Larry Bird, who in 1986 praised Michael Jordan as being “God disguised as Michael Jordan,” Pacer George Hill, who contributed 18 points in Game 2, also compared James to God.
There’s only like one person that’s more scarier than that and that’s, you know, God.
This series is destined to be a classic with not only great quotes from player on the series, like the one above, that will be used as a sound byte for all time, but also straight up great basketball.
How the Pacers Are Pushing the Heat to the Limit
The Heat seemed to be on cruise control up until this point. They won a whopping 66 games during the regular season and have basically rolled over every team they have encountered in the playoffs previous to the Pacers. The last four words of the previous sentence are important as the Pacers seem to have the Heat figured out.
The Pacers formula for pushing the Heat to the limit is a relatively simply one. While the Heat have spent the last few years building their team around “the big 3” the Pacers have built a starting five who can make plays all over the court both defensively and offensively. Paul George, Roy Hibbert, West, Hill and Danny Granger all have the potential to be difference makers from anywhere on the court.
Take their latest win against the Heat as an example to see how this team could be poison to the Heat. West stifled James in the last minuet of the fourth quarter. Hibbert put up 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Paul George scored 22 points. Hill put up 18 points while the Pacers solid bench has done wonders in filling the gap left by Granger. They are a talented all around team built to play solid basketball and while the Heat rely on a few extraordinarily talented individuals, the Pacers rely on their entire team.
Betting Analysis
As always, I prefer to use our friends at Bovada when looking at the odds and betting lines. The Heat are the favorites to win this series and while the lines for Game 3 have yet to be opened up at Bovada it is likely that the Pacers having home court advantage will have that much of an impact on the Heat being the favorites. This is an exciting series to bet on as it can go either way. While the safe investment is likely the Heat, the Pacers clearly have the Heat’s number and will likely continue to push them to the limit.
If you are anxious other betting sites do have their odds and money lines up that you can go ahead and bet on. The Heat are the slight favorites in Game 3 according to most sites with a money line hovering between -119 to -125.
