The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers faced off on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals after Miami defeated the Bulls and the Pacers dispatched the Knicks and after the first contest Miami is up one game after winning in overtime with a great performance from LeBron James and the Pacers will now have to rally to win the series.
The play of LeBron James will be the key throughout the series and if the Pacers can keep Paul George disrupting his shots and Roy Hibbert in the middle blocking them, there is a chance they can steal a game or two. The Pacers are a very deep team, but the Heat have been developing and shaping their roster over the past two seasons and they are even better than they were last year when the two teams faced off. Indiana couldn't recover when they were up 2-1 and Miami started winning and if a similar situation arises this time around, Miami will be ready to bounce and take back any momentum they allow the Pacers to have.
Heading into the conference finals, the Heat were confident, but the regular season performance against the Pacers and Knicks left something to be desired, as Miami went 1-3 against the Knicks and 1-2 against the Pacers while going 72-12 against everyone else. But no one in the NBA has played more consistently or more dominant than the Heat, as the team is 45-3 over the past 48 games, a record no one else in the league can come close to and should give the team confidence in the conference finals.
The Heat went 66-16 this season as the best team in the NBA and had themselves a 27 game winning streak to make things look even better. The team was extremely dominant for that stretch before losing to the Chicago Bulls and the team has lost just three games over the past 48 (not counting the playoffs). The Heat are a balanced team and a tough team after ranking fifth in the NBA in scoring with 102 points per game, while they were also ranked fifth in points allowed with 95 per game. The team was solid on defense all year and ranked seventh in assists, but they were 30th in rebounding, although that stat is misleading since they made many of their shots and were efficient, causing fewer rebounds to be able to grab.
The Pacers are a tough matchup for the Heat after beating them twice in the regular season by double digits and their defense will be key if they win the series. The team ranked 23rd in scoring with 94 points per game and were second in the league with 90 allowed per game, meaning Miami will have its work cut out for them. The team was 28th in assists, but where they could really have an advantage is in rebounding, as the team was ranked first in the league behind Hibbert and West in rebounds per game. The team won the central division with 49 wins and are in the conference finals for the first time since 2004.
The Pacers were able to take care of the Knicks despite the team finishing with the second best record in the Eastern conference and now the Heat and Indiana will face off to see who goes to the finals. The biggest issue for the Knicks was winning on the road and scoring consistently and now they are looking at a long offseason that might not have too many answers. On the West side the Spurs are up 2-0 on the Grizzlies after a Game 2 overtime victory.