2013 Playoffs: Pacers-Heat Game 6 viewer’s guide
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
It’s do or die for the Pacers on Saturday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. If the Pacers win, they will force a Game 7 in Miami Monday night. If not, curtains, and a long offseason awaits.
Their task won’t be easy. Miami is 5-3 all-time in Game 6s on the road. But there is a carrot – Miami has blown two playoff series in which it led 3-2. The Pacers are fighting to become the third team to pull the rug out from under them, but it starts, as Paul George said, one game at a time.
Let’s examine key trends going into the 8:30 p.m. tip:
Birdman nesting: The NBA announced Friday evening that Heat center Chris Andersen is suspended for Game 6 without pay as punishment for his belligerent activity toward Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough in the second quarter of Thursday’s 90-79 Miami victory. His absence looms large for a team that is already smaller than the Pacers. Andersen had 16 points and five rebounds in Game 1 and posted nine points and nine boards in Game 2. He’s counted on for rebounding, energy and shot-blocking. Likely to play in Andersen’s place is Joel Anthony, who was barely a blip on the radar screen entering this series. Anthony is an experienced, athletic center who blocks a lot of shots but lacks offensive skill. He’s far too short to bother Pacers giant Roy Hibbert. Look for Indiana to capitalize on a depleted Heat bench.
Use the attitude: David West said the Pacers’ fighting mentality stalled in the decisive third quarter of Game 5. Lapses can’t happen from here on out. The margin for error is gone. Hibbert said the Pacers have to bring their level of determination above Miami’s. George said the team must realize the Heat will want this next one just as badly. For the first time in these playoffs, the Pacers are facing elimination. Not only are they going to have to out-execute Miami, they’ll need to find the energy reserves necessary to win the 50/50 balls. It helps that, with only a day between games, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh haven’t had much of a chance to rest their gimpy right legs. On offense, the Pacers must severely reduce the number of mental breakdowns and miscues, and on defense they must perfect their physical style of play. Both of those objectives come back to Indiana’s focus being sharp and in the right place.
Ball control: Digging deeper on that point – although this has been a topic of conversation all season – is the importance of cutting down on possessions that end without a shot or trip to the foul line. The Pacers are one of the most turnover-prone teams in basketball, and this conference final has picked at an open sore. They’ve coughed it up a whopping 79 times in the five games. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra made two more brilliant adjustments in Game 5 – offensively, running stuff through LeBron James in the high post and through wing pick-and-rolls involving James and a point guard, and defensively, by double-teaming the post. The latter was aimed, Spoelstra said, at applying pressure, inducing mistakes and speeding up the game. The effect was stunning. Hibbert was denied ideal position, time and space. And a flustered offense, apparently missing a Plan B, responded with inaccurate passes and indecision. The Pacers, used to facing prior Heat schemes that front the post, will now have to find a way to beat the traps in Game 6.
Pressure: In an edgy series marked by nine technical fouls, the stakes are higher than ever. Hansbrough is expected to play despite a sprained right ankle sustained in Game 5. How will some of the young players handle an elimination game at home? George is only 23 years old, but being a spring chicken is no excuse – Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were playing in the NBA Finals at that age. Indiana needs him at his best. Folks in the arena might keep an eye on the Pacers in warm-ups. Are they loose? Are guys smiling and conversing with teammates? Or are they tight and going through drills with all the emotion of a guy in line at the bureau of motor vehicles? Whether the moment gets to them, or whether they embrace the dire situation, will determine whether the Pacers’ season continues.
