Thoughts on Heat-Pacers So Far.

Wow. I had the feeling after four games in the Heat-Pacers series that it would be 2-2 going back to South Beach. I had no idea that it would be quite like this though. Even though I predicted that the Heat would win in six games; I still had the sneaking suspicion that the Heat might steamroll the Pacers. That didn't happen in any way shape or form. Three out of the four games so far have been spectacular to watch.

Game one was insane. Paul George's shot to send the game to OT was just ridiculous. He has only been in the NBA for a few years and to step up and make a shot of that magnitude on largest stage of his career was remarkable. His game up to that point hadn't exactly been up to par and that shot changed how his game was going. I know it's been a while since game one, but I also think that Roy Hibbert should have been in the game when LeBron made that game winning layup. Don't think Paul George is without blame, though. Had he stayed in front of LeBron when he was driving to the hoop then having Hibbert in the game might not have mattered. I would guess that Paul George assumed LeBron was going to pull up in stead of drive to the hoop. Michael Jordan was someone that always said, "Force LeBron to his left. When he goes right, he drives to the hoop, and when he drives to left, he pulls up." Nonetheless, game one was interesting. We saw David West dominate the first half of that game, and we saw Paul George dominate the second half (at least offensively). LeBron just does what he seems to often do. He shined has the best player in the game today and had a triple double. Not to mention he made a game winning shot to win that game for the Heat to keep home court advantage. Also, I liked how Birdman played! He went 7-7 and did a good job being effective in just 18 minutes of action.

Game two was also crazy! All the Pacers starters had positive +/- numbers and were in double figures, which is probably because the Pacers bench flat out stinks. Roy Hibbert played well on both ends of the floor. George Hill shot about as lights out as he could have. David West struggled in shooting the ball from the floor, but excelled at getting to the free throw line, and was 9-10 from the charity stripe. Yeah, the Pacers won game two by a score of 97-93, but it's not as if the Heat didn't show up. LeBron was amazing like always, but had two passes in the final minute of the game that were probably among the worst of his career. Wade, Bosh, and Chalmers didn't contribute like they should have. Haslem might as well not have dressed for this game after only having one point. Battier didn't score. Birdman did what he could. And Norris Cole and Ray Allen didn't really do much either.

Game three was the least spectacular of the games so far. Every Pacer struggled. If you're looking for a silver lining David West played the best of the Pacers shooting 50% from the field. Everyone on the Pacers struggled. I don't need to list all of them, but no one on the Pacers had a really good game. Hibbert had a 20 points 17 rebound game, but that didn't matter. It didn't help that the Pacers stayed an extra night in South Beach, which means they probably didn't get much rest. First thing with talking about the Heat was how much can change between games for one player. Udonis Haslem had what was probably the best offensive output of his career. He shot 8-9 and seemly made every short corner jumper that he took. The rest of the Heat did what they had to do. Another shout out to Birdman for not missing a shot. The Heat won 114-96, and it wasn't a good game.

Game four was amazing. I wish this game wasn't tampered by the refs. Joey Crawford was the head official. And if you know anything about NBA games, that is a sign for bad calls to ensue. Basketball is a game of runs, and the Pacers started of the game running. They started 11-0 and forced the Heat to take a timeout early on. Regardless, both teams played fairly well for the most part. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this game. Roy Hibbert showed why he deserved to get that monster contract last offseason as a restricted free agent. He didn't have a brilliant game from a numbers standpoint 23 points and 12 boards. He didn't have a blocked shot, but he did his part on defense and changed every shot he possibly could. David West had a nice game. Paul George had an alright game. I really liked the game Lance Stephenson had even though he flopped any chance he got. George Hill didn't shoot the ball all that well, but he made some key shots when he had to. I'll touch on the officiating after talking about the Heat, LeBron James had a good game. What else do you expect of him? He can't get a triple double every night. He had a technical called on him even though I don't know why he had a technical called on him. He fouled out for the first time in what seems like an eternity and that killed the Heat in the last minute of the game. Wade was simply okay. He hasn't had a game that has been up to his high standards. Chris Bosh only made one shot and it was a three. Chalmers was their second leading scorer, which shouldn't happen very often. More attention was paid to Haslem after his amazing game three. Ray Allen contributed only by going 4 of 13. In other words, not very good.
Let's give some credit to the Pacers though. They did make enough plays to win the game. The Pacers did win the game 99-92 Although...

Remember how I said Joey Crawford was officiating this game? Well he showed why he is the only ref that has a name that recognize besides Tim Donaghy. There was a technical called on each team (one on LeBron and one on Pacers coach Frank Vogel). They called a travel on Wade that was at least a questionable call. They called so many fouls on LeBron that he actually fouled out. The call that he fouled out on was on an illegal screen call. First off, that's one of the most subjective calls in a basketball game. It's rarely called and when it is then it's usually as blatant as can be. If you want to know what a true illegal screen looks like just watch Kevin Garnett. He does an illegal screen damn near every time he sets a screen! Anyway, I think that's a lame call in the last couple minutes of a Conference Finals game. While most people can debate the Wade travel and the LeBron Screen; you can't debate the 24 second call that shouldn't have been called. It clearly hit the rim and improperly gave the ball back to the Heat. Sadly, it wasn't even reviewed. It led to a Heat run that may or may not have been sparked after the missed call.

I'm not backing down on my prediction of Heat in six games, but I do think it will be a challenge for both teams.

I'll talk about the Grizzles and Spurs series in a giant preview before the NBA Finals, and I'll even give you a book recommendation.

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