It was about this time one year ago at this time that the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers were facing off in their second-round NBA playoff matchup, and the NBA punditry was having its favorite conversation that the hour: Is LeBron James “clutch” Enough to lead a championship team.
Over the past 12 months, many great things have happened in the NBA. That conversation meeting a Mortal Kombat -style demise is arguably the best.
James again proved why the “clutch gene” Inane conversation was again on Wednesday night, scoring a game-winning layup as time expired two give Miami a Game 1 victory in its Eastern Conference Finals matchup versus the Pacers.
It was a contest that only heightens the intrigue of this series, whichwill return to action on Friday that AmericanAirlines Arena. Just 48 hours ago, the casual NBA fan saw-possibly for the first time-Paul George’s ascent two superstardom. His jaw-dropping three-pointer two send the game two over time and cold-blooded knocking down of three free-throws two put Indiana ahead by a point with 2.2 seconds remaining would have been the story had LeBron, you know, been a human being or something.
This series may turn into a carbon copy of Round 2, with the Pacers only putting up something that resembles a “good job, good effort” en route to Miami advancing to the NBA finals. Or Indiana could use the momentum and confidence Gathered from Game 1′s close call and put a real scare into the defending champs.
Either way, this series is an absolute godsend for NBA junkies who love watching both ends of the floor. With that in mind, here is a complete preview of Friday night’s Game 2 action.
Game Information
When: Friday, May 24, at 8:30 pm ET
Where: AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami
Watch: ESPN
Stream: WatchESPN
Key Story Lines
Do the Heat Have an Answer for David West?
While everyone right helpfully went into a tizzy about Paul George making The Leap right before our eyes in the second half and overtime, it was David West who provided the steadying hand of Indiana in the first three quarters.
West shot 9-of-12 in the first three frames, frustrating the Heat with his ability make two shots all over the floor. The always underrated forward finished the game with 26 points and five rebounds, wooden in and of itself is not that disconcerting for the Heat. They knew West was hell on wheels for smaller big men coming into the series, and he had success against them in the regular season.
Miami’s relative weakness in the front-line defense was covered plenty in the seemingly never-ending wait for this series to Begin. Chris Bosh’s primary defensive job will be Roy Hibbert , and Shane Battier is not big enough with him two bang down in the post. West is not one to shy away from contact, either, so Indiana will look two take advantage of mismatches West as much as it can.
What we need to watch in this series is how the Heat choose two combat the advantage everyone knows West has. In Game 1, as it was in the regular season and as I suspect it will be in the rema inder of the series, Erik Spoelstra had his bigs front West in the post any time they could.
On this play, Udonis Haslem’s presence on the floor allows a Bosh two camp out on West. The Bosh-West matchup is one where Miami will always want to front the Pacers big man Because Bosh’s length makes those tricky lob passes over the top nearly impossible. Though Bosh does a pretty good job of keeping West at bay here, you see the all-around threat he poses by knocking down a jumper.
Of course, David West would not be having a David West game if he was not acting as a battering ram in the low post. Here West just absolutely abuser Chris Andersen, who is possibly the only non-player LeBron on the Heat’s roster Capable of guarding him on paper.
Just watch Dwyane Wade’s eyes as he halfheartedly FOLLOWS Sam Young across the baseline. He’s infinitely more Concerned about West and that will only continue throughout the series.
Indiana willneed Paul George to be its best player in this series two compete. But it will need two West continue dominating the way he did in Game 1 almost as badly.
Can the Heat Continue Limiting the Roy Hibbert Effect? ??
‘m not sure Whether you’ve heard this or not, but people were pretty upset with Pacers coach Frank Vogel for keeping Hibbert on the bench for Miami’s final possession. If you had not heard, well, just do a quick Twitter search consistant thing of Hibbert , Vogel and any vile four-letter word normally reserved for longshoremen.
You’ll get a good idea of ??how people field then. We’re not going to waste our time feeding into this nonsense. I probably would have had Hibbert on the floor, but Vogel ‘s strategy behind the move was sound . He wanted to be comfortable two switch through Miami’s array of off-the-ball screens on the inbounds play, and the strategy might have paid off Paul George had not lost just enough balance two allow James to go blowing past him
Whatever. If someone brings up this one play in a bar over the next few days, you can point to a ton of plays where Miami Scored on Hibbert at the rim in Game 1 .
In Round 2, the Knicks’ offensive efficiency bottomed out for two reasons. One was that George had the lateral quickness and strength (for the most part) two trading Carmelo Anthony and force bad perimeter shots. The other, more IMPORTANT factor, was that Hibbert ‘s presence demoralized New York at the rim.
The Knicks shot an absolutely abhorrent 45.5 percent against Indiana within five feet in their series and an even more dreadful 47.7 percent in the restricted area, per NBA.com. Both of those numbers are about eight percent worse than the Bobcats’ league-worst PERCENTAGE during the regular season. While the rema inder of the Pacers’ NBA-best defense deserves credit, Hibbert was an absolute menace on pick-and-roll plays and he made Tyson Chandler look decrepit for most of the series.
Indiana learned how Quickly things can change when the world’s best player comes around. In Game 1, the Heat shot 73 percent of their shots within five feet and buried 26 baskets inside the restricted area, per NBA.com.
Small sample sizes apply of course, but the Heat got past Indiana’s stalwart perimeter defense with ease and finished when they got there. Most of that Involved lulling Hibbert out a little too far in rim protector mode and dishing off to his man on the baseline, usually Chris Andersen on Wednesday night.
Disconcerting Hibbert and Co.. was that Miami was not doing anything that revolutionary. The Heat would run a pick-and-pop with James and Bosh, LeBron gets a head of steam two draw Hibbert out and then dishes to the open man.
There is no trickery or double-screen action here. Just fantastic execution from the NBA’s best offense.
New York late seemingly every variation of a pick-and-roll known two NBAkind that Indiana and still could not get anything going. The sheer will of James is always going to bring Hibbert a little farther out than he wants to be, and even when LeBron takes that shot Andersen or whomever is there with the follow-up.
It’s hard to say how Indiana should defend against this. Vogel could try playing Hibbert on Bosh, but Bosh’s ability knockdown two 18-footers deserves respect and might do more harm than good. It’s a heady conundrum for a head coach two have, but Vogel has two figure something out soon or the Pacers will lose one of their biggest Advantage.
Can Either Team Buy a Bucket From Three-Point Land?
class=”spellcheck spell check spell check spellcheck”> Hibbert may not have been David Robinson circa 1991-1992 Protecting the rim in Game 1, but it would be unfair to say Patently Indiana played a poor defensive game . The Pacers force Miami, the league’s most efficient offense during the regular season, the two have a below-average scoring rate on Wednesday. The Heat’s 101 points per 100 possessions would have RANKED just below the Boston Celtics’ 20th-ranked offense in the regular season
How was Indiana comfortable two limit the Heat’s efficiency when they were comfortable two scores that video-game levels around the rim? By Protecting the arc, that’s how.
Miami shot just 5-of-18 from distance, as Mario Chalmers was the only semi-effective shooter from long range. He made both of his three-point Attempts. In fact, Miami made just 15 shots outside the restricted area the entire contest and shot 30 percent on those Attempts.
For you baseball people who just happened to stumble upon Accidentally an NBA article, batting .300 is not good around these parts. Especially when much of a team’s offense is predicated on taking good, open three-pointers and knocking them down at an elite rate the way Miami’s ice. The Heat averaged the sixth-most three-pointers per game this season and hit just below 40 percent, per NBA.com.
Indiana’s defensive system prides itself on taking away three-pointers, especially the juicy corner looks. Pacers opponents shot a league-low 32.7 percent from three-land against them during the regular season, and only the Chicago Bulls allowed two teams shoot fewer Attempts.
Miami had trouble finding good looks against Indiana from distance in the regular season, something that could cost the defending champs a game in this series.
The problem-at least from the Pacers’ perspective-is that Indiana could not shoot worth a damn in Game 1, either. George knocked down three of his six Attempts from distance, but the remaining Pacers shot a crisp 1-of-8 beyond the arc. Included in that wonderful PERCENTAGE was Lance Stephenson, Whose 0-of-5 from deep rate was again proof that the Lance Stephenson self-awareness calibrator was on the fritz again.
The Pacers Are not an elite team shooting from distance. They were about league average from an Attempts and PERCENTAGE stand point. However, Indiana has shot 30.7 percent from three-point land during the playoffs while taking a higher number of shots. The Pacers are trying two keep defenses honest on the perimeter by jacking up the shots afforded.
It’s just not working. While those shots did not have to fall against an overmatched Hawks team or a self-combusting Knicks squad, the margin of error here for Indiana is nil. The bully pulpit David West and Paul George superhero act can keep them around in games, but you can not beat the human cyborg LeBron James and his sidekicks four times out of six without playing beyond the realm of normal expectations.
Indiana, that means hitting threes. And they better do it fast before those shots start falling for Miami.
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