The Miami Heat are the Eastern Conference Finals champions after defeating the Indiana Pacers 99-76 in Game 7. LeBron James and a rejuvenated Dwyane Wade took over this one and led the Heat to victory as they will now face the San Antonio spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals.
There was a lot of hustle in this one as Wade and James were everywhere on the floor. Wade finished with 21 points while James added 32. The scoring was a big part of the victory, but the Heat won on effort, hustle and on the offensive boards. They took pages out of the Pacers book after dominating on physicality.
It was almost like the Heat did not want to be embarrassed. They played like their careers depended on it. Udonis Haslem wasn't giving Roy Hibbert positioning and David West was the best offensive weapon for the Pacers throughout the night.
The Heat won the battle of the rebounds on both ends grabbing 15 offensive boards to seven of the Pacers and winning the rebound battle overall 43-36. They also ompletely dominated on defensive forcing 17 turnovers in this game.
The interesting and scary part of this game was that the Pacers were in the lead in the first quarter despite committing nine turnovers. The Pacers shot at a higher percentage than the Heat, but they didn't get as many possessions or offensive boards, which allowed the Heat to take as much as a 26-point lead.
Towards the end of the game, things began getting physical. The Pacers showed frustrations as David West was picking up pointless fouls and Hibbert was sent to the bench in the middle of the third quarter with five fouls. The Heat were forcing fouls on everybody as they were controlling the points from the paint.
Finally, the Heat showed their true potential as they made the Pacers look completely inferior. George, who had powered the Pacers on offense, was held silent and had only two field goals in the game as he fouled out with about 7:40 remaining in the game. Hibbert was kept away from the paint and he was only able to grab six rebounds.
Chris Bosh, who mentioned how disappointed he was with his performance in the previous games, grabbed eight rebounds, scored nine points and had three blocked shots.
For the third straight time, the Heat are now in the NBA Finals. James will have a chance to get payback on the Spurs who swept him and his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2007. Win again and James will have his second championship, while Tim Duncan will be searching for his fifth championship, tying him with the great Kobe Bryant.
Standings: Heat (12-4) vs. Spurs (12-2)
