Pace. The Pacers are primarily a halfcourt offense. Their main weapon is the dribble penetration. They also like feed their big men Roy Hibbert, who plays more in the paint and can be dominating in stretches, and David West, who has range anywhere inside the arc and is a great passer. Every now and then the Pacers will speed up and try to run.Big Men. The Pacers are BIG. Much bigger than the Heat, and that could cause problems throughout the series. They have 4 big men in their rotation, Hibbert, West, Tyler Hansborough, and Lou Amundson that provide them with great length and make them one of the best rebounding teams in the league. That rebounding also leads to a lot of 2nd chance points. The undersized Heat bigs will have their work cut out trying to limit this size. Roy Hibbert (55)

Wing Versatility.  That size also extends to their perimeter players.  Their perimeter players have great size with the ability to defend point guards allowing them to switch on pick and rolls.

Those were some of their strengths, here are some of the Pacers’ weaknesses:

Assists.  They don’t have a lot of them.  The Pacers have a few guys that can create their own shots, which at times causes the ball the stick.  They are not very effective when running plays, and they try to set up their offense out of the post.  For the most part their ball movement is weak and they are turnover prone.

Transition.  They aren’t the worst, but they aren’t the best.  They are an average transition team, but don’t look to run all that much.

Indiana Pacers guard Darren Collison (2)

Hibbert’s Lateral Quickness.  For  a man with his size, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.  Why am I mentioning this, then?  Because the Heat should take advantage of this and try to involve him in the pick and roll as much as possible.

Fouls.  The Pacers are an aggressive team, at times too aggressive.  They committed the 3rd most fouls in the league.  Their big men are susceptible to getting in foul trouble.  A team like the Heat, on their own a very high free throw shooting team, should be licking their chops.  Expect Wade, Bron, and Bosh to attack, attack, attack, and get them in foul trouble.

Indiana Pacers power forward David West (21) reacts after being called for a foul

Prediction:

Heat in 5.  The Heat take first 2 at home, Pacers take Game 3 at their place, Heat take the last 2.

Miami was just having fun the whole game. LeBron led the way with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals. While he didn’t get the triple double, he definitely showed that he is the league’s MVP and will be the front-runner for the award. Dwyane Wade added 16 points on 50% shooting and Chris Bosh chipped in with 13 points and 7 rebounds.

Norris Cole had a huge game for Miami on Tuesday night against Indiana.

Indiana just played terribly from the start. At the end of the first quarter, the Heat were up 33-16. It seemed like Indiana just gave up after their best player, Danny Granger, sprained his ankle late in the first quarter. David West had 14 points and Roy Hibbert didn’t do much. Hibbert finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds, which are a little below his season average. A.J. Price and Paul George played well, but it was nowhere near well-enough to even compete with the Heat.

This was not only a historic win for Miami, but another blowout win where the stars got to rest. James played 33 minutes, while Bosh and Wade played 26 and 24. Also, the Heat got to give some of the bench guys some run. Mickell Gladness, Eddy Curry, and Juwan Howard all got to play and contribute. This was a great win for Miami and now they will finally get some rest before the Cleveland game on Friday, which is the last game of their 6th game road trip. Be tuned for a preview of the game on Friday morning!

Author’s Note: This game was special for me because Miami beat one of my best friends, Graham’s, favorite team.