The Miami Heat are heading into the final matchup of the Eastern conference finals on Monday night after the Indiana Pacers forced a Game 7 with a win on Saturday and a number of players will be the focus as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade must play their best to send the Heat to the finals.
The Indiana Pacers were the better team in Game 6 and defeated the Heat handily, but with Game 7 coming in South Florida, all the pressure will be on Miami, as they are the number one seed and were expected to go to the finals. The San Antonio Spurs have been waiting for almost a week to see who will play them in the finals and while they won't really care who wins, the team has to be hoping for the Pacers to win so they can get home court advantage in the finals.
LeBron James and the Heat are looking for their second straight championship and despite 29 points in Game 6 from James, the Heat couldn't get close enough at the end to tie things up and take the lead. Miami looked ready to win entering Game 6 after their previous performance, but the team was beaten handily and now they must rebound. James was fantastic in the third quarter of Game 5 after scoring or assisting on 25 points out of 30 in the quarter and the Pacers flipped things around in the next game after outscoring the Heat 29-15 in the quarter.
Paul George was excellent in the Game 6 win after scoring 28 points and adding eight rebounds and he has been one of the best players for the team so far in the postseason. Roy Hibbert has been excellent while posting numerous double-doubles and George will be key once again with Hibbert on the floor on the inside on Monday night. Hibbert made some bad comments after the win and apologized before being fined.
"I am apologizing for insensitive remarks made during the postgame press conference after our victory over Miami Saturday night," read Hibbert's statement.
"They were disrespectful and offensive and not a reflection of my personal views. I used a slang term that is not appropriate in any setting, private or public, and the language I used definitely has no place in a public forum, especially over live television.
"I apologize to those who I have offended, to our fans and to the Pacers' organization. I sincerely have deep regret over my choice of words last night," he said.
Hibbert scored 24 points as the Pacers beat the Miami Heat 91-77 on Saturday to force a deciding game seven in South Florida on Monday but the 26-year-old responded with a rant in the televised press conference.
