The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers are playing on the NBA playoffs schedule on Wednesday and the Game 5 matchup in Indy starts at 8:30 pm ET on ESPN from Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the game is streaming from the WatchESPN website and the eastern conference finals has LeBron James and the Big three up 3-1 in the series with the chance to clinch a spot in the finals.
James had another strong finish in Game 4 and now the team comes into Game 5 needing just a win to get back to the finals for the fourth straight season. The Pacers have played against the Heat in the past three postseasons and the past two were in the east finals and they have not been able to beat them and this year it looks like that will play out once again. James led his team in scoring, rebounding and assists and now he has the most games of anyone in the playoffs while doing that and that has been one of the main reasons why the team is in the position they are in now.
James needs just one win to get back to the finals and he put in another MVP performance in the last game, scoring 32 points and adding 10 rebounds and five assists in the matchup. The Pacers were 35-6 at home this season, but they have not played that way in the playoffs and that's why it's likely the series will end here. Lance Stephenson made a fool of himself by taking James to task for his trash talking and then he ended up not scoring until late in the fourth quarter and ended up looking like a clown after he tried to poke the beast. Roy Hibbert was horrible again and did not score and now the Heat will be looking to close things out and they may have to do it without Chris Andersen, who missed the last game and could be out again.
Miami now has the chance to become the first team since the Celtics and Lakers in the 1980's to make it to four straight finals and they have the chance to win their third straight if they can do it. The team took a commanding 3-1 advantage in the series in the last game and the Pacers couldn't find anything they wouldn't blame the loss on other than themselves, including the free throw shooting, calls from referees, the "home cooking" and the play calls from Frank Vogel. They sounded like a defeated team and one that can't get anything done without whining, which is what they did for most of the season.
The team railed on how they were better than the Heat all year and should have won last year in the east finals if the series was at home, but now that they have home court advantage, they look even worse than they did last season. The Pacers last year were a tough team and while this years' team has shown they can play well, they have not done that in the playoffs and they are basically finished in this series. Miami could play against San Antonio for the second reason in a row or it will be a matchup with OKC from two years ago.
Check here for the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers live coverage from ESPN for the NBA playoffs.
