Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s recap what happened in the regular season between the Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat:

January 8th, 2013 at Indiana

Pacers beat Heat 87-77.

February 1st, 2013 at Indiana

Pacers beat the Heat (again!) 102-89.  Miami then went on the Streak (and won 27 games straight).

March 10th, 2013 at Miami

Heat beat the Pacers 105-91.

The Importance of Home Court

In each of these games, the road team has ended up losing by at least 10 points (if not more), so this seems to suggest that home court advantage is going to be critical for the Miami Heat.  However, if a road team wins an away game it’ll have a massive impact on this series (obviously, a road win changes the complexion of any playoff series) especially because of the importance of home court in the regular season games between the Pacers and the Heat this year.

Which Pacers Team is Going To Show Up? 

The most unpredictable thing about this series is knowing which Indiana Pacers team is going to show up.  Will the Indiana Pacers that did not score a field goal for 12 minutes (Game 2 of the Pacers-Knicks series) show up?  Or will the Indiana Pacers that played incredibly good defense, abused a New York Knicks team in the paint, and believed that they were world-beaters show up?

The Pacers Go Cold Against The Knicks

Roy Hibbert Stuffs Carmelo

The thing that should scare any Pacers fan is that Indiana has no go-to scoring threat.  When the Indiana Pacers get cold they get cold. Roy Hibbert can’t be counted on for consistent post offense (even if he has improved on his lethargic regular season performance with some solid post-season play).  Paul George, George Hill, and Lance Stephenson can all go cold, especially if their jump shots are not falling.  The only Pacer who I think can get any shot he wants, when he wants to, is David “I’m-a-BAMF” West (though he’s gotta watch out for people pulling the chair on him).

The Miami Heat have a deeper team and the Indiana Pacers have a better starting five.  The Miami Heat drive and kick, and the Indiana Pacers grind and grit.  The Miami Heat have an explosive offense and the Indiana Pacers have a shut-down defense.  This series will be entertaining, not only for its contrasting styles, but also for its uncertainty — I honestly don’t know who is going to win this series (I think it will be the Heat but man, can the Pacers play some suffocating defense).