The NBA Finals are fast approaching with the San Antonio Spurs already in and as the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers duke it out, it will be interesting to see who advances, as the home court in the series will be determined by who makes it into the final matchup.
The Miami Heat will have home court advantage if they can defeat the Pacers and make it to the NBA Finals, while the Pacers would be the ones on the road for San Antonio if they win. The Heat had a 66-16 record this past regular season and was the number one seed in the East, while the Pacers went 49-32 and were the number three seed. The Spurs were number two in the West and finished the season with a 58-24 record, meaning that Miami will get home court if they advance to the finals. The Heat made quick work of the Bucks in the first round, while the Spurs did the same with the Lakers and swept them in four games.
The Heat lost Game 4 against the Pacers 99-92 after some very physical play that got LeBron James knocked out of the game with six fouls, while Dwyane Wade gave up a big turnover at the end to finish things off. The Pacers now are 2-2 with two of the next three games coming on the road, giving the Heat the advantage. Miami was down 2-1 to the team last year before coming back and winning the next three games, but that was in the second round.
James wants to get back to the finals for the chance to repeat and he also would live some revenge against the Spurs, who swept out his old Cavaliers team in 2007 when they were last in the finals. James has done all that he can this season in the playoffs by leading the team in scoring and playing hard on defense, but his 24 points were not enough on Tuesday night to win, while the team also got seven rebounds from Ray Allen and six assists from Wade. One issue for the Heat is the fact that Allen led the team in rebounding and they will need better production from Chris Bosh and Chris Andersen in the pain going forward.
Miami only outscored the Pacers in one quarter in Game 4 and Roy Hibbert has shown why he is one of the best big men in the league, as he had 17 rebounds in one game and led the team with 23 points in this game. The Heat and Pacers both have depth and it is likely that the tougher team will win out the next two of three games to advance to the finals.