The Miami Heat won over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night and now have a 2-1 series lead in the eastern conference finals and the NBA Playoffs Standings in 2014 leads into Game 4 in Miami and the team can take a 3-1 series advantage and now LeBron James and company have the Pacers where they want them after taking this matchup after dominating in the fourth quarter and winning by the score of 99-87.
LeBron James showed once again why he is the best player in the world, dropping over 25 points and adding seven assists into the fourth quarter and that enabled the Heat to stay ahead and win the game. Chris Andersen led Miami in rebounding and made plays when he needed to, while Paul George led Indiana with less than 20 points in the game, while Lance Stephenson had 11 rebounds and five assists to lead the team and by the end Roy Hibbert was on the bench.
The Heat pulled a 30-point turnaround after being down 15 in the game and they ended up 15 points up at one point in the fourth quarter and that gave them the major advantage and closed out the game. James added five rebounds and was put on the bench at the end of the game and this all game after the Pacers were up 17-4 in the first quarter. Ray Allen and Norris Cole were great down the stretch, with Jesus Shuttlesworth making three after three to keep the Heat ahead and that came after a quiet start to the game and that helped give the team a 15-point lead.
The Heat once again outscored the Pacers in the fourth quarter and they also dominated in the third after losing out in the first by the score of 21-14 and now Miami has the advantage in the series 2-1. The Heat can go up 3-1 in Game 4 and that comes on Monday night and that will be a huge night for Indiana. The Pacers were totally shut down and the Miami defense was great and now they are up once again in the eastern conference finals and they are starting to take the form of their championship style after locking things down and taking the advantage.
The Pacers had a nice start, but Miami has been able to beat their defense in the third straight game despite losing one of them and the Heat did a good job of making Indy move side to side and that pushed the defense thin. Cole was excellent at the end of the game and Wade also hit some threes in the second half that were big and James was once again front and center and the defense from him was excellent. Ray Allen's three made James go crazy and he helped pumped up the team and now Indy has snapped their five game winning streak on the road.
Miami is looking for their third straight championship and they are looking to make it to the finals for the fourth straight season and that comes after a loss to the Mavericks and wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, who are playing in the west finals to see who will advance against the Pacers or Heat.
