Jun 3, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra celebrates after game 7 of the 2013 NBA Eastern Conference Finals at American Airlines Arena. The Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers 99-76 to win the series four games to three. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell- USA TODAY Sports
1. Dwyane Wade had 6 offensive rebounds.
To put this into perspective, the entire Pacers team had eight. Eight. Offensive. Rebounds.
After destroying — hell, annihilating — the Miami Heat on the glass for essentially six straight games, the Pacers couldn’t keep the Heat (aka Dwyane Wade) off the offensive boards?!?! Really?
How hard is it to box out a Dwyane Wade that looked like maimed gazelle on the serengeti for the first six games of this series?
(Answer: apparently really hard for Lance Stephenson.)
2. 21. As in the number of turnovers the Indiana Pacers had in Game 7.
In the TNT pregame show, Charles Barkley proclaimed that “16” was the magic turnover limit for the Indiana Pacers. If they got to 16 turnovers, this game would be Miami’s.
Obviously, this is why we should all be like Chuck.
The Indiana Pacers had something like 11 turnovers in the first quarter of Game 7.
Yikes.
11 of those 21 turnovers were steals, which means that while Miami’s defense was extremely effective into confounding and confusing the Pacers, the Pacers were slow to make adjustments to deal with Miami’s swarming defense.
3. 38 and 20 — the number of free throws that the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers had in Game 7, respectively.
First thing is that I’m surprised I haven’t heard more “OMG, did anyone see the free throw numbers from Game 7??? I can’t believe that the Heat got to the line almost twice as many times as the Indiana Pacers!!! Can David Stern be anymore obvious?!?!” (Wait for it…and the answer is, yes he could probably be more obvious, right Lakers/Clippers/Rockets/Hornets Pelicans?)
Second thing is that Miami shot 87% from the free throw line last night. The Pacers shot 70%. The Pacers weren’t doing themselves any favors by missing free throws.
Finally, and most importantly, those free throws stemmed from fouls — and 11 critical fouls came against Roy Hibbert and Paul George (Hibbert had 5 and George had 6). Which meant that Hibbert and George had to sit at important junctures in the game. That’s when Miami made runs throughout the game — when Hibbert and George sat on the bench. Those two guys were the Pacers’ go-to offense (give it to Hibbert for a relatively easy post shot, or let George create off the dribble) and also integral parts of the Pacers’ defense (Hibbert is their paint protector, and George guarded LeBron for most of the series). When they had to sit, the Pacers were a completely different team, especially considering the fact that scrubs like Ian Mahinmi, Sam Young, and Tyler Hansbrough had to pick up some of the playing time.
(Not to mention Jeff Pendergraph.)
(And Flo Rida’s manager. Lolz.)