The city of Indianapolis has a number of big events coming up this week and next Sunday might be the biggest sports day of the year, as both the Indy 500 and the Indiana Pacers will be in action, with the race going on during the day and the NBA playoffs hitting BankersLife Fieldhouse as the Miami Heat come to town for Game 3 of the Eastern conference finals.
The Pacers haven't played on the same day as the Indianapolis 500 in a number of years and according to WTHR in Indianapolis, local officials have already started updating security and logistical plans due to the two events coming on the same day. The Indy 500 is one of the biggest sporting events in all of North America during the year and will see over 150,000 people for the 500 mile race around the 2.5-mile track.
The Department of Public Safety said that authorities are preparing for the maximum amount of people at each event and is looking at plans for all types of emergency situations, especially after what happened at the Boston Marathon. Another issue that could interfere with the race day and preparations for the Pacers game is the weather, which could push the Indy 500 to later in the afternoon. All of the major authorities are helping with the preparations, including the Indiana State Police, Speedway Police and the Indy Metro.
The Pacers are in the conference finals for the first time in years after defeating the New York Knicks in six games and now will face the Heat for a second straight year. Last season the team took 2-1 lead over the Heat as they tried to get their first championship with LeBron James and then won the next three games of the series to advance to the finals where the defeated Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers squared off in Game 1 in Florida on Wednesday night and after the first game of the Eastern Conference finals, Miami is up 1-0 with the next game coming Friday night with the Indiana matchup on Sunday. The Heat played an intense game with the Pacers and the overtime period was forced when Paul George hit a huge three point shot with less than a second left in the game. The Pacers looked like they were poised to win the game after George was fouled taking a three point shot and he made all three, but after that James took over. James got the pass from Shane Battier with just two second left in the game and he was able to drive on George Hill with Roy Hibbert out of the game and he made the winning layup as time expired, giving the Heat the victory to take a 1-0 series lead.