This time however, the Heat will be facing a far more formidable opponent, who boast the NBA's best regular season record, 61-21. Upon that, the Pacers also own the league's best road record, and have already beaten the Heat in all 3 of their meetings this season. Of course this is not the regular season anymore, but the results will not change much.
As everyone outside of south beach expects, the Pacers will win this series. In my opinion it will be in 5 games. The Heat, who have lost all of their playoff games on the road thus far, will not be able to beat the East's top seed on the road. Indiana's strength inside and deep bench will wear down and beat up on Miami. When the Hornets weren't wasting their time playing outside-in, they were playing inside-out, uitilizing their big men, P.J. Brown and Jamaal Magloire. Ironically enough, that is when the Hornets had most of their success because Brian Grant and Lamar Odom are just not big and strong enough to clog the paint. Had the Hornets utilized their other all-star, Magloire, rather than relying too much on an injured and wore down Baron Davis, they would have won their series (which is a big reason Hornet's coach, Tim Floyd, should be and will be fired shortly).
Unfortunately for the Heat, the Pacers, led by the most underrated coach in the league, Rick Carlisle, will not be as foolish. Jermaine O'neal, Ron Artest, and Al Harrington and Johnathan Bender off the bench will be able to score at will inside. Also, look for Jeff Foster to get a bundle of offensive rebounds and tip-ins. Miami should be able to get one win at home and perhaps even come close to stealing one at Indiana, but will ultimately fall short.
It has been a fantastic, suprising and feel-good season for the Miami Heat and their fans. Stan Van Gundy has done a masterful job getting his team this far, but the Pacers are ready to snuff their flames.
