NBA Playoffs 2013: Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers Recap

Pushed as far as they could be pushed by the upstart Indiana Pacers, the defending champion Miami Heat made a statement in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday, June 3, blowing out the Pacers 99-76 to advance to their third straight NBA Finals.

(Image courtesy sportslogos.net)

LeBron James had 32 points and eight rebounds for the Heat, but more importantly, he finally got some help in Game 7. Dwyane Wade shook off his lingering knee injury to score 21 points—matching his high for this postseason—and the Heat forced 15 first-half turnovers and turned Game 7 into a rout with a huge second quarter.

Miami led by as many as 28 points in Game 7 after a series that had a net difference of just five through six games. Ray Allen came off the bench to score 10 points for the Heat.

Indiana got 18 points from Roy Hibbert, 14 from David West and 13 from George Hill, but All-Star Paul George was just 2-for-9 from the floor and fouled out early in the fourth quarter with just seven points.

Here are some of Wade’s highlights from Game 7—which might as well be considered Wade’s highlights from the series.

It was an abrupt ending for what had been an enthralling series—Indiana never led in the series, but also never trailed by more than one game as the teams traded victories game-by-game throughout.

Game Scores (Miami wins series, 4-3)

Game 1 at Miami: Miami 103, Indiana 102, OT
Game 2 at Miami: Indiana 97, Miami 93
Game 3 at Indianapolis: Miami 114, Indiana 96
Game 4 at Indianapolis: Indiana 99, Miami 92
Game 5 at Miami: Miami 90, Indiana 79
Game 6 at Indianapolis: Indiana 91, Miami 77
Game 7 at Miami: Miami 99, Indiana 76

Series MVP

LeBron James, Miami Heat

(NBA.com photo)

Could it have been anybody else? James averaged 29 points per game on 51 percent shooting in the series, while also finding time to average 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists. He also logged 10 steals and 10 blocks and shot 44.1 percent from 3-point range.

James also played 43.4 minutes a night and took over the defensive assignment on Paul George in Game 7 to take some of the pressure off Wade.

The MVP of the regular season is quite simply at his zenith right now. His Game 7 was not one of those games for the ages, such as his Game 6 performance against the Boston Celtics in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals. Rather it was a game of controlled greatness. James had complete control of Game 7 without ever taking it over.

Perhaps his most important role early in Game 7 was that of facilitator. After hearing from teammates Wade and Chris Bosh about needing the ball more, James did just that in the first quarter—taking one shot in the first eight minutes of the game while feeding his teammates.

James then delivered the knockout in the second quarter with 12 points and two assists as Miami outscored Indiana 33-16 to take control of the game and, ultimately, the series.

One of those knockout shots was this high-flying alley-oop jam off a pass from Norris Cole.

Biggest Surprise

Roy Hibbert, Indiana Pacers

(NBA.com photo)

We came into the series knowing that Roy Hibbert was a force of nature defensively. He was second in the NBA with a defensive rating (points projected over 100 possessions) of 96.9 and fifth in the league with 4.9 defensive win shares. He was fourth with 2.6 blocked shots per game and third with 296 offensive rebounds.

What we weren’t expecting was to see a reincarnation of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar type dominance in the low post on the offensive end. Hibbert averaged 22.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game in the series on 55.7 percent shooting—this coming after a disappointing regular season during which he averaged just 11.9 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 44.8 percent.

For the playoffs, Hibbert averaged 17 points and 9.9 rebounds. But against the Heat, Hibbert was a man among boys in the low post. One of the most frequent knocks on Miami is that the Heat lack size and that was evident as they tried to contend with the massive (7’2”, 285 pounds) Hibbert down low.

Hibbert was particularly dominant in Indiana’s Game 4 win, with 23 points, 12 rebounds and an array of low-post moves that brought back memories of the great centers of yesteryear.

Biggest Disappointment

Chris Bosh, Miami Heat

(NBA.com photo)

Yes, Miami won the series, but they did so with very little in the way of contributions from Chris Bosh. The All-Star and Olympian averaged just 11 points per game in the series and shot just 37.7 percent from the floor.

Worse still was the fact a 6’10” power forward pressed into playing center for the small-ball Heat could be such an absolute non-factor on the glass. Bosh came through with eight rebounds in Game 7 to go with nine points (he was 3-for-13 from the floor), but for the series Bosh averaged only 4.3 rebounds per game as Roy Hibbert and David West completely dominated the boards.

Since coming to Miami from the Toronto Raptors in 2010, Bosh’s rebounding numbers have declined each year, from 8.3 per game in 2010-11 to 7.9 last season to 6.8 this year. Bosh is being asked to play more of a perimeter game, to be fair, but at the same time, Bosh is turning into Andrea Bargnani out there—he seems almost allergic at times to the painted area.

Maybe that’s why he got so excited over actually making a basket in the second quarter of Game 7:

What’s Next

NBA Finals vs. San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs haven’t played since May 27 after sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Finals. Conversely, Miami will host Game 1 of the Finals just three days after finally closing out the Pacers.

The Finals schedule appears below (all times Eastern Daylight):

Thursday, June 6: at Miami, 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 9: at Miami, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, June 11: at San Antonio, 8 p.m.
Thursday, June 13: at San Antonio, 8 p.m.
*Sunday, June 16: at San Antonio, 7 p.m.
*Tuesday, June 18: at Miami, 8 p.m.
*Thursday, June 20: at Miami, 8 p.m.
*-if necessary

If ever there was a time when the regular-season meetings between two opponents in the NBA Finals meant less than this year’s two meetings between the Heat and the Spurs, I’m hard-pressed to think of one.

The Heat won the first meeting in Miami 105-100 on Nov. 29, a game that was significant because the Spurs were fined $250,000 after coach Gregg Popovich sent Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green back to San Antonio rather than playing them in what was the Spurs’ fourth game in five nights, all on the road. The problem was that the game was nationally televised on TNT and Popovich’s decision brought complaints from the Heat, fans and the commissioner’s office.

In the rematch in San Antonio, Miami posted an 88-86 win on March 31, with coach Erik Spoelstra choosing to sit out LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

So, yes, not too much insight to be gleaned from those two games, to be sure.