Game 1 of the Pacers-Heat series is Sunday, May 18 at 3:30 p.m. ET.

EASTERN Conference Finals

Matchup

More than 11 months later, after 82 regular season games and 13 postseason contests, after their brilliant start and a concerning slide into the playoffs, the Pacers are exactly where they wanted to be all along: In the Eastern Conference Finals with a rematch against the two-time defending champion Miami Heat – and this time, they have homecourt advantage.

This is what the Pacers’ longed for back on June 3rd as they sat in their American Airlines Arena locker room after losing Game 7 in Miami. They firmly stated their beliefs in the months following that if Game 7 was on their court, they would have moved on to the NBA Finals. Now they have that opportunity, a golden one that can’t be taken lightly. Some of the league’s best fail to reach this moment even once in their professional career.

Indiana took heat (no pun intended) for stating their goal on the first day of training camp: to earn the conference’s top seed, and thus homecourt advantage. Just how critical is it in this matchup? The home team has won 12 of the last 14 meetings, including all four regular season games this season.

The Pacers are competing in the Conference Finals for the eighth time in NBA franchise history. They are 1-6 in the series of the past, four of which went to seven games. This series marks the third consecutive postseason that the Heat and Pacers have squared off.

To get to this point, No. 1 seed Indiana beat the Atlanta Hawks in seven games and then the Washington Wizards in six. No. 2 Miami handled their business in four fewer games, sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats and finishing off the Brooklyn Nets in five games.

At the center of this matchup is the world’s greatest player and four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, LeBron James. He’s second to only Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant in scoring this postseason, averaging 30 points per game – along with seven rebounds and almost five assists. He can’t do it all by himself, though.

All season long, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra managed the minutes of Dwyane Wade, who’s dealt with knee issues for a while, including last postseason. Wade, however, is coming off his best showing of the playoffs as he put 28 points on the Nets in their Game 5 series-clinching win on Wednesday. Get your popcorn, because Wade against Lance Stephenson is always a show.

Roy Hibbert’s play inside will be huge, particularly on the defense. While they’ve won all five playoff games in which he’s reached double figures, his rim protection is most important, as usual. In their meeting on March 26th, he went off for 21 points – 13 in the first quarter and mostly paired against Greg Oden, who has yet to see the court this postseason. Containing James (easier said than done) is obviously priority number one and Paul George, along with Hibbert, play key roles in doing such.

Unlike the Pacers, the Heat have mixed up their lineups and rotations frequently. In their Second Round clash with the Nets, they went smaller. Against the Pacers, the ferocious Chris Andersen will have to play a larger role and Udonis Haslem, who’s been utilized minimally, is expected to receive more minutes. The power forward spot has been the Heat’s weakest when facing the Pacers, and David West has been there for the Pacers when called upon. He scored 18 of his 29 points, postseason career-high in a Pacers uniform, in the second half to pull Indiana to victory over the Wizards and move on to this postseason.

Indiana can’t turn the ball over, as Miami will make you pay with turnovers for touchdowns, and it has to get productive minutes out of its bench. Pacers coach Frank Vogel has had to lean heavily on the starters, and with more games added to their resume, they’ve had less time to rest.

The NBA’s final four is set and it’s no different than we all predicted at the beginning of the season: Pacers-Heat, Spurs-Thunder. Game 1 of the Pacers-Heat series is Sunday, May 18 at 3:30 p.m. ET. The NBA Finals begin on June 5th.


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I got the Heat winning in 6. I hate both of these teams lol