Miami's situation not as stable as it appears
So, Miami has got this series against Indiana wrapped, right? Indiana is going fishing on Thursday. Kenny and Chuck, get ready.
Not exactly.
As the buzz from LeBron James’ superhuman effort and Dwyane Wade’s return from the dead quiets, it’s time to look at Game 4 through a careful critical lens.
LeBron might never play that well again in his life. Even for him, 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists? I bet he doesn’t do that again. For a long, long time.
Wade was nearly perfect in the second half. I bet he doesn’t do that again either. At least not tonight in Miami. Or in this series.
All that, and Miami still needed Udonis Haslem to turn into a scoring machine to pull out a 101-93 win.
Things are not as secure as they seem in the sun and sand.
“Those guys really put on great performances, and they needed them to win.” Indiana forward Danny Granger said. They had to. I think that’s encouraging for us. But at the same time, they’re both capable of doing it.”
Sure, they’re capable. But if LeBron and D-Wade return to mere mortals in Game 5, Indiana might be coming home to clinch.
You see, Indiana is fearless. The Pacers lost their opener against Orlando, then didn’t lose again. They blew a 19-point lead against the Magic in Game 4, then won in overtime. They beat Miami on the road in Game 2 and darn near won Game 1.
So, before the King moves on, if he does, he will sweat.
“This series has proven that homecourt advantage means nothing, Granger said. We won in their building, they’ve won in our building. We feel we can win in any building in the NBA.”
Other factors are at play here.
Roy Hibbert was in foul trouble in Game 4. It has become apparent that Indiana is the better team when its 7-foot-2 center is in the game. As long as he stays on the floor, Indiana can win.
“When we’re able to play our normal rotation, we’re tough to beat,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. “When we have guys in foul trouble and we’re trying to patch in some lineups, that’s when we’re struggling in this series. Our guys are fully aware of the need to stay out of foul trouble. They need to play without fouling. Our guys are learning that lesson.”
Expect the Pacers to be aggressive about getting the ball to Hibbert and forward David West tonight.
“We got away from looking at him on the over-the-tops when thre fronting us,” Vogel said. “We talked about that today (Monday). David and Roy have to work harder to get the ball in the post and their teammates have got to see them better if we’re going to take advantage of those matchups at the big positions.”
Also of note, Miami’s bigs were in foul trouble in Game 4, but because Indiana’s were, too, the Pacers couldn’t exploit it.
Danny Granger has gotten better with every game offensively. I can’t even find it in myself to blame him for what LeBron did in Game 4. That was one of those act-of-God deals. Granger is poised to have a big game because he tends to ride waves.
Most of all, Indiana follows its coach, and for all the things that change in this series, that won’t. Vogel is Gold Swagger. His players feed off of him. As Tyler Hansbrough once said, you won’t find one person in that locker room that doesn’t believe in Vogel or what he says.
Also of note, Indiana is 3-1 on the road in the playoffs, and could have been 4-0 with some breaks in Game 1 vs. Miami.
So the Pacers will be on the same page.
And there’s the issue of pressure.
LeBron and Dwyane know things will be tough if they lose and have to go to Indiana. We don’t know how Miami will handle this degree of pressure, especially with Chris Bosh out. Can they really count on Haslem closing Indiana out again?
And, no matter what anyone says, the pressure is ALWAYS on the Heat. If Indiana loses the next two games, they were supposed to – nobody gave them a chance anyway, even when Bosh got hurt. But Miami was made to win championships. Anything less, even struggles on the way there, are cause for criticism. Decisions will do that to you.
I’m not going so far as to say Indiana wins tonight or Thursday, though I believe they will win at least one of those games. But failing to tune in tonight because you’re assuming a Miami victory is a mistake.
There’s one more thing, one that Vogel brought up Monday afternoon. Indiana is hanging in there and has yet to play a complete game.
We’re ready to go,” he said. “We still have a great deal of belief. They haven’t beaten our best. We just have to make sure we’re at our best in Game 5.”
It will be worth seeing.
