Daily NBA Fix 5-28-14: Thunder Strikes Twice?
Looking Ahead To Another Game 5:
Here’s the thing about the 2013-14 Indiana Pacers: They’re one loss away from being one of the more disappointing teams in NBA history. Not because they let the No. 8 Atlanta Hawks take them to seven games in the first round, not because the looked so vulnerable in a six-game series against the Washington Wizards in the semifinals, and not because they’re probably going to fall to the Miami Heat for the third year in a row. No, the main reason this Pacers team is so disappointing is because when we finally got the Eastern Conference Finals matchup we had been expecting all year long, Indiana once again failed to step up.
Maybe we should have expected it given their recent struggles. But if there’s one team in the NBA built to dismantle and battle the Miami Heat, it’s the Indiana Pacers. So needless to say, the possibility of going home in five games, especially after winning Game 1 and securing home court advantage for the series, is severely disappointing. Indiana’s bench has gone more anemic than Kevin Durant bench press in college, Roy Hibbert has gone back to doing his impression of the Invisible Man and Frank Vogel can’t afford to play anyone other than his starting five.
It’s not just the fact that the Pacers have been thoroughly beaten three games in a row; it’s the endless stream of excuses and BS that has come with it that makes Pacers this team so disappointing. Between Lance Stephenson‘s (admittedly awesome/hilarious but mostly) ill-timed comments about LeBron James that gave way LeBron’s Destroyer of All Worlds mode, Paul George‘s incorrect accusations about poor officiating or Roy Hibbert blaming his goose egg on Indiana’s game plan, the Pacers haven’t lived up the hype of being a real challenger for Miami.
The Heat haven’t had to do anything special other than let LeBron do LeBron things and watch as the Pacers implode from within. Stephenson’s long been a big of a walking powder keg, but his comments ignited the best player in the world in Game 4 and his response was a typical “I have no regrets.” WELL YOU PROBABLY DAMN WELL SHOULD, LANCE.
When you think of the NBA’s greatest teams that had to overcome their big brother in the playoffs, you think of teams that were tough. They were together, unified in one purpose of unseating whatever team was holding them down. They said all the right things and didn’t provide their perceived superiors with bulletin board material. This is the most vulnerable the Miami Heat have ever been in the Big Three era, but these Indiana Pacers have failed to embody any of these necessary traits to actually have a prayer of being more than wannabe usurpers.
In Game 5 tonight, the Pacers have no margin for error. Paul George has to be a leader. Roy Hibbert has to wake up and remember he’s the key to the series. Lance Stephenson has to unleash another classic performance. David West needs to exploit every defensive mismatch the Heat throw his way. George Hill needs to knock down his shots. And the Pacers’ bench needs to provide something other than garbage minutes. Is that a lot to ask? You bet. I’m guessing Indiana pulls it together for one desperate elimination game at home before getting demolished in Miami for Game 6.