2013 Playoffs: Pacers-Heat Game 5 viewer’s guide
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
The Pacers played with extra energy and effort Tuesday night and pulled out a must-win game at home. They had a noticeable dose of desperation and urgency because a loss would’ve effectively ended the Eastern Conference finals. Now the series is 2-2 heading back to Miami for Game 5 on Thursday.
Let’s dive in to the trends and storylines before the 8:30 p.m. tip-off:
Upside down: Miami’s defense is struggling, and the Pacers’ offense is rolling. Chalk those intertwined developments up as the most shocking of this conference final. Indiana’s attack has been playing far above its season norm, and it’s mostly due to a ton of free throws and offensive rebounds. But the Pacers are also connecting at 46 percent from the field and 37 percent on 3-pointers. If they’d shot like this all season they’d have won 60 games. Meanwhile, the Heat, who finished seventh in defensive efficiency, have struggled to cover David West and Roy Hibbert. Since Game 1, Miami has been unable to force turnovers at its normal rate. And both Ray Allen and Chris Andersen have been exposed at times. Heck, even LeBron James, one of the NBA’s very best defenders, gave up multiple scores in a subpar performance in Game 4. George Hill has emerged in the past three games as a big scorer for the Pacers. If all this continues, Indiana has a solid chance to pull ahead in the series for the first time.
Woes of Wade: Heat guard Dwyane Wade isn’t the dominating force he could be if he were close to 100 percent healthy. He’s been a playmaker all series long, facilitating the ball movement and occasionally contributing on the glass, but the dynamic scoring is missing. Wade’s right knee is hindered by painful bruises and he was seen limping at times in Game 4. The Pacers can take advantage of Wade’s wobbliness on both ends – offensively, by attacking him with Lance Stephenson or Paul George, and defensively, by playing tighter on Wade because he lacks his trademark quickness and burst. More broadly, the injury to James’ co-star presents the Pacers a better chance to get out of this series. That’s an opportunity they’ll want to take advantage of.
Swing game: Entering this postseason, of the 252 NBA teams that led a best-of-seven series three games to two, 216 went on to win the series, according to WhoWins.com. So Thursday’s Game 5 is very important for positioning, and particularly for the Pacers, given the historical ineptitude of clubs trying to win a seventh game on the road. Frankly, Indiana’s best chance to win this Eastern Conference title is probably to win the next two games. Last season, the Heat dropped Game 4 of the conference finals on the road to fall into a series tie with Boston and came back to Miami for Game 5 and lost. The Pacers hope to make the Heat repeat that exact scenario. The first four chapters of this series were fiercely contested. Get ready for even more intensity, physicality and energy. Interestingly, at off-day practice, players from both sides mentioned that desire would be a deciding factor.
Sharpening the Lance: Multiple Pacers insisted that performances from Stephenson such as the one he delivered in Game 4 – 20 points, five rebounds and multiple clutch shots – are not merely nice additions to the cause but are actually necessary to win. The third-year shooting guard is averaging 11.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in the series. Stephenson has been on top of his game in both victories and either mediocre or ineffective in the two losses. What type of arrows will he have in the quiver for a pressure-packed night in South Florida?
