The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers are playing on the NBA playoffs schedule on Tuesday for Game 2 of the eastern conference finals and the matchup starts at 8:30 pm ET on ESPN after the draft lottery and the live stream will be from the WatchESPN website at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and comes with Indy up 1-0 in the series and looking strong after winning over LeBron James in the first game.
James and the Big 3 now have to rebound after losing Game 1 and they have previously lost the first game of other series since James came to South Florida and in three of those four times the team swept the rest of the games after losing. James had 10 rebounds and five assists to lead Miami, while Dwyane Wade had 27 points to lead the Heat and they now will have to make adjustments to try and win game 2. The first game was the best performance from the Pacers in all of the playoffs and now they have the chance to go up 2-0 and that could be devastating for Miami even if they are the defending champions twice over.
James and the Heat have dealt with adversity over the past two years as they have won two championships and now they are in one of the toughest spots they have been in, as Indiana is finally taking the form they had in the early part of the season. The Pacers totally faltered down the stretch of the season and nearly gave up home court before clinching it and then the team also had to play seven games against the Hawks and finally they look like they have worked things out. The Pacers were one of the best defensive teams in the league this season and they also dominated in free throws against Miami, more than doubling their attempts and the refs likely will not that friendly in game 2.
Paul George had a great game for the Pacers and he had 24 points to lead Indiana while Roy Hibbert had another solid game with nine rebounds and Lance Stephenson was tops with eight assists. Stephenson was very sharp from the field and he has been a key player for the Pacers and now those names will try and give the team a 2-0 lead on Tuesday night after taking Game 1. The winner of game 1 wins the series by a high majority of the time, but the majority of teams are not playing against the two time defending champions and the best player in the world in LeBron James.
James and the Heat have played the Pacers for three straight seasons and they defeated them in the second round two years ago before winning over the team in the eastern conference finals last season. The two teams played a seven game series last year and the Pacers whined all season about how they would have won the series had they had home court advantage and now they have the chance to show whether that was true or not. The team took Game 1 to keep that advantage after giving it up in the previous two series and now Miami must rally back to get to their fourth straight finals.
Check here for the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers live coverage from ESPN for the NBA playoffs.