Miami Heat seek to tie season series against Indiana Pacers Monday
By Wes Goldberg
Heat vs Pacers preview: The Miami Heat will be without Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh for the third-straight game.
Heat (31-24) vs Pacers (29-25)
Where: Miami
When: Monday, 7:30 pm ET
TV/Radio: FS-SUN/790
The Miami Heat have rallied together in the absence of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but they’ve also been somewhat lucky that the two teams they beat–the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks–played uninspired basketball coming out of the All-Star break. That won’t be the case against the Indiana Pacers Monday night. Even though those uber-competitive playoff series are long behind these organizations, the rivalry still exists.
The Heat will be short-armed once again, with just 10 active players. The Pacers, meanwhile, are mostly healthy save for Rodney Stuckey.
The Pacers are gunning for a playoff berth, but they’ve struggled against Eastern Conference playoff contenders this season. The Heat, meanwhile, have leapt to fourth place in the Eastern Conference but their lead is slight–just a 1.5 game lead over the Pacers.
With fewer than 30 games left in the season, these contests are like playoff games. No more playing around, as each of these games start to carry more impact the closer we get to the playoffs.
The Heat trail the season series 2-1 with hopes of tying the season split.
Matchup to watch: Paul George vs Justise Winslow
This ought to be fun. Justise Winslow has been inserted into the starting lineup with Bosh out, and he’ll draw the Paul George assignment from the jump. George is quietly having a very good season, averaging 23.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. He’s shooting 41.1 percent from the field, including 38.2 percent from 3. He’s become a volume shooter to some respect (averaging 18 shots per game) but he’s the most dangerous offensive player for Frank Vogel’s team.
Winslow’s been impressive his rookie season in defending the opponent’s best player. However, the Heat have struggled to contain George, who has scored 36, 23 and 32 points against Miami this season. You know those numbers won’t get past Erik Spoelstra, who will have to deploy a better strategy to stop him. No matter what Spo comes up with, it all starts with Winslow.
X-Factor: Goran Dragic
The Pacers have quietly risen to the second best defense in the NBA, so the Heat may have to turn this into a shootout to loosen them up.
Goran Dragic is coming off his best game of the season, scoring 24 points and dishing out eight assists against the Wizards Saturday. He established a pace early on that helped unlock the abilities of guys like Luol Deng and Josh McRoberts. With Dragic leading the offense, Miami has scored 114 and 115 points in the last two games.
Yes, they’ve allowed more points as well, but it’s going to be hard to stop teams without Bosh filling so many holes defensively. Hassan Whiteside also missed the Hawks game in which Atlanta scored 111 points. With Whiteside in the middle, Miami held Washington to 94 points. It’s still above their season average of what they are allowing defensively, but with so many injuries Miami will have to adjust their strategy and play to the personnel they have.
Dragic is the lead dog for the time being, and if he can establish the pace of the game early, the Heat could take this thing on their terms.
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Key stats
Miami Heat offensive efficiency: 23rd, 101.8 points per 100 possessions
Miami Heat defensive efficiency: 6th, 100.5 points per 100 possessions
Indiana Pacers offensive efficiency: 22nd, 102.0 points allowed per 100 possessions
Indiana Pacers defensive efficiency: 2nd, 99.5 points allowed per 100 possessions