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Paul George #24 of the Indiana Pacers walks off the court as he is pulled from the game with three minutes left during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on May 26, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Getty Images)
Game 2 was a surprise; shock for some, redemption and vindication for others. We saw some bedizened heroes falter when the going got tough, some unheralded knight’s rise to the occasion and in a purist sense – this was play-off basketball at its best. If Game 1 was a thriller, Game 2 was an unprecedented yet welcome surprise. It was but natural for one to expect the stakes to get higher in Game 3.
Well, maybe the league and the fans were hoping for some more entertainment and gripping moments between the underdogs in Indiana Pacers and the celebrated, spangled and decorated Miami Heat.
The Heat and specially LeBron James however had had too much excitement for their liking already. It was time for them to get down to business, to remind everyone in the league why they are the best team in the game. There is a reason why they won 65 games. There is a reason why they comprehensibly swept aside opponents in the first two rounds. There is a reason why LeBron won his second consecutive MVP title, why the Heat finished the season with a 43-1 record and why they haven’t lost back-to-back games this season.
The reason is that the Heat are just too good a team not to have achieved the above histrionics. Their basketball intelligence and intensity remains unparalleled, and they have one of the most well-rounded and comprehensive squads in the game. At least five of the Heat’s current players will be first-ballot Hall-of-Fame inductees, and such credentials matched with the dedication and diligence of their coach, it would take a lot to keep this unit down.
Game 2 ended with LeBron having another of his clutch fourth-quarter play-off moments, but when he chose to give up the ball, they resulted in two turnovers in the last 40 seconds to decide the tie. Has he grown over such frailties, yet? Well, he surely was in no mood to answer that question as he just didn’t intend to let the Pacers get that close again. Paul George had done a decent job on LeBron and had stood his own against the Heat. LeBron had acknowledged his growth after Game 2, but come Game3, he had his game-plan set. NBA play-offs are for seasoned warriors and LeBron most certainly had found out a way to get the better of the third year guard.
The talking points:
1. LeBron played like a MVP:
22 Points on 8-17 shooting, 4 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 0 Blocks, 0 Steals, 0 Turnovers and 0 fouls – now those are great numbers, but they aren’t surely LeBron-esque numbers. LeBron is famed for his ability to play the point forward role, create for his teammates, help out on the boards, get some big defensive plays, block some shots and steal some passes. This was maybe an anti-LeBron sort of a game when he chose to concentrate on his offense far more, and he didn’t try to play the perimeter slash and dash game or shoot the step-back fade-aways. LeBron was out to make a statement, and he did to Paul George what he did to Durant in the Finals of 2012.
LeBron put up an exhibition on post-play, showcasing his unnatural skill level that gets ignored in front of his hyperbolic athleticism. He gave the league and his savants a gentle reminder about his versatility as he suddenly metamorphosed into maybe the best post-player in the game. He used the screens by Udonis Haslem and Chris Bosh to great effect, establishing a dangerous low-block position and out-muscling, out-working and out-hustling George.
George is by no means an ordinary defender and his defensive intensity was on full display as he diffused the threat posed by the league’s most prominent scorer, Carmelo Anthony, in the last series. Anthony is maybe a stronger post-player and George buoyed by his success against Anthony had no apparent reason to fear LeBron. But, Melo on the block was all strength while LeBron is just far more skilful down low.
LeBron schooled George with Hakeem Olajuwon-like footwork, using the up-and-under, the baseline-turnaround jumper, the spin-hook and the bank-shot to almost perfection. The Pacers are a famed defensive unit and pride themselves on their ability to play great isolation defence. Their strength proved to be their nemesis as George took it on himself to stop LeBron on the post and Coach Frank Vogel didn’t egg his team to help him out. George is an athletic player, but LeBron belongs to a different stratosphere when it comes to physicality and basketball intelligence. The difference showed and left a telling impact on both George’s performance and the Pacers. Their fort was breached, the paint was no longer protected and points came easy.
In the first half, the Heat went inside-out through LeBron and managed to average over 1.5 assists per possession; all this against the best defensive team in the game. The Pacers never stepped up to help their All-Star out and force LeBron to give up the ball or try to trap him. As a result LeBron made hay down-low, scoring with ease and was one of the major reasons why the Heat managed to race away to a play-off record 70 points in the first-half.
LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat drives against Paul George #24 of the Indiana Pacers during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on May 26, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Getty Images)
2. LeBron got a lot of help:
While LeBron was killing George on the block, his other teammates also seemed to have woken up from their deep slumber. Dwayne Wade was suddenly more like the Dwyane Wade we know, scoring 18 points and dishing out 8 assists. Bosh had his usual struggles on the boards, but stretched the floor efficiently with his mid-range and perimeter shooting. Mario Chalmers had his best game of the series, as he was aggressive against George Hill and used his speed and ball-handling ability to get to the paint and get some easy looks, rather than lingering on the perimeter.
The true surprise was the play of Haslem, who was a constantly buzzing, as he managed to score 17 points on 8-9 shooting. He made his corner jumpers and also moved intelligently off the ball. The result was that, with the Heat’s starters all having good games, the Pacers struggled and had to chase the game from the get-go. It isn’t often that the Pacers concede 114 points and allow a team to shoot 54% from the field. The Heat were just too good.
3. Hibbert and West continue to dominate down-low:
The Heat’s greatest deficiency is surely their lack of depth and length down low, as they choose to play a small line-up to suit the strengths of Wade and LeBron. Bosh, Chris Anderson and Haslem were no match for the duo of Roy Hibbert and David West, who managed to score a combined 41 points, while also grabbing 27 rebounds.
Hibbert, in particular, seemed the Pacers best offensive weapon as he used his size and strength to great effect, managing to haul down 7 offensive rebounds and earning 15 free-throw attempts. So much so, that at times it seemed that the Pacers best offensive set was a missed shot that allowed Hibbert to get an offensive rebound and try to score off that or just earn a trip to the charity stripe.
4. George was a no-factor:
Paul George has been playing the best basketball of his life in the play-offs this year. He was big in Game 1 and bigger in Game 2. Game 3 was just supposed to be another step on the seemingly exponential growth curve and specially playing at home, George was expected to do much more. The Pacers had managed to beat the Heat twice in the regular season at Indiana and George was expected to be at the helm of a possible third conquest.
However, George was just a no-presence in the game today as he struggled to cope up with LeBron in the post. LeBron just didn’t score on him, but also seemed to have gotten into his mind, hurt his pride and just killed his belligerence. George suddenly looked lost on offense and was no longer the aggressive and explosive guard that had taken the series by storm.
Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat goes up between Paul George #24 and Roy Hibbert #55 of the Indiana Pacers during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on May 26, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Getty Images)
He scored 13 points, while going a paltry 3-10 from the field. His jumper just wouldn’t fall; he came short on two lay-up attempts and was just too hassled to express his offensive prowess. Wade and LeBron did do a great job on him, but once LeBron had done his thing on the post and the Heat having raced into a 14-point lead, and George just seemed lost and out of the contest.
5. Pacers role-players just didn’t show up:
If the Heat benefited with the efficient scoring from its role-players, the same killed the Pacers. Lance Stephenson, Hill and the bench shot a combined 14-35 from the field. They also were a docile figure on the defensive end and just lacked the energy to stage a possible comeback after Miami blew the wind out of them with their first half-blitz. The resurgence never lasted beyond 3 possessions in the start of the third quarter and the famed blue-collared approached of the Pacers was nowhere to be seen.
The Pacers and the Heat both knew and understood the importance of Game 3. It is just that the Heat had the experience and LeBron with them. The series can now be decided in the next game. Indiana would need to play out of their skins to win the next game, while LeBron and company need to just repeat their Game 3 performance. Game 4 will be pivotal. Let’s just hope it is far more intense and more like a Finals game than Game 3 turned out to be.
