The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers are already very familiar foes after playing a tough series in the playoffs last season and after defeating the Knicks on Saturday night in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinals the two teams will match up again in the postseason.
Last time around the Pacers took a surprising 2-1 lead in the series, but once the Heat got Chris Bosh back from injury everything was different and Miami won the next three games to advance to the finals, where they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to win James his first NBA title. The Heat are coming into the series after a 94-91 Game 5 victory over the Bulls, who played without Derrick Rose for the entire regular season and playoffs after his knee injury last year.
James had a solid game of 23 points and eight assists, while Dwyane Wade added 18 points and also contributed greatly to the Heat coming back from an 11-point deficit during the second half of the game that threatened to force a Game 6. Wade was not playing at 100 percent and the Heat bench came through big time, while Nate Robinson and Jimmy Butler couldn't finish things off at the end for the Bulls. Carlos Boozer had the best game for Chicago, scoring 26 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, while Butler added 19 and Richard Hamilton scored 15.
The Bulls looked like they could challenge the Heat after winning Game 1, but that appears to be more due to Miami being off after sweeping the Bucks, as they took care of business and won the last four games of the series. Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich barely played in the series while dealing with injuries and the Bulls could not overcome those losses. The Heat dominated the final stretch of the game, outscoring the Bulls 25-14 while making eight of 16 field goals. Shane Battier and Norris Cole have been excellent role players for the Heat and the team has continued to play its best when it means the most.
The Knicks were expected by many to advance to get into the conference finals after finishing second in the East, but after going up 3-0 on the Boston Celtics, the team slowly fell apart and couldn't find ways to win on the road. New York didn't end up winning a single game in Indiana all season including the playoffs and regular season and now they head into another offseason with big questions to answer on the roaster and about what the team needs to do for next season. The Miami Heat will be favored against the Pacers and it should be a hard fought series.
