It all seemed frighteningly familiar.The Heat survived the Indiana Pacers en route to its 2012 championship, and the opening game of this Eastern Conference finals series had exactly the same feel Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. In other words, be prepared for nail-chewing drama on the hardwood for the rest of this series.
This was more like it. Ten games in, the playoffs felt like they started for real for the Heat here Wednesday night. Welcome back, tension and doubt. Good to see you again, major challenge. We missed you, edge of seat.
Chris Bosh predicted his clashes with Indiana center Roy Hibbert, the prototypical 7-2 immovable object, would be pivotal to the fulfillment of the Miami Heat’s Eastern Conference championship aspirations.
The Pacers did a lot of things right, including outrebounding the Heat, but ultimately they had no answer for LeBron James in Game 1.
Dwyane Wade’s foul with 2.2 seconds left in overtime was his biggest miscue on a night he made timely plays and scored 19 points.
Dwyane Wade said before Wednesday’s game that his injured right knee is causing him more pain than the left knee injury that hindered him in last year’s postseason.
The ‘X factor’ in the series might be who wins the battle between Chris Bosh and Roy Hibbert. Bosh, who missed almost all of last year’s Pacers series, will be helped by Udonis Haslem, Shane Battier and Chris ‘Birdman’ A
What happened in the buildup to this Heat-Pacers Eastern Conference final is something you would find at the intersection of Funny and Sad.
The coach on the other sideline in a playoff series generally doesn’t get under the skin of the opposing team. But Pacers coach Frank Vogel has managed to do it two years in a row — once for reasons not of his doing.
Heat backup point guard Norris Cole’s job is to short-circuit the Pacers’ offense — and George Hill — especially in the fourth quarter.
With forward Danny Granger lost for the season, third-year forward Paul George has stepped up as the Pacers’ go-to player.
Indianapolis will hold the Indy 500 and a Pacers playoff game on the same day for the first time, but excitement has been building since 1994.
An odd sight piqued the interests of reporters during the Heat’s practice Tuesday, a day before the Eastern Conference finals. It’s not every day you see LeBron James, one of the most physically imposing players in the NBA, working on floaters in the lane.
SMALL FORWARD | EDGE: HEAT
With the additions of Ray Allen and Chris Andersen and emergence of Norris Cole, the Heat’s deep bench could be the difference in the conference finals.
Pacers coach Frank Vogel, wanting to set the record straight about recent comments he made pertaining to the Heat, went on two South Florida radio stations on Monday to clear the air.
The Heat gets who in the NBA Eastern Conference finals? Indiana? What, no (censored) Knicks?
Pacers coach Frank Vogel, fined $15,000 for remarks against the Heat a year ago, is up to his old tricks.
The pain and frustration of last year’s playoffs are now a distant memory for Chris Bosh. ‘He is our most important player for a reason,’ coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Heat now knows who will it play in the Eastern Conference finals, and it knows that opponent quite well.
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