Experienced Heat, upstart Pacers finally ready to begin Eastern Conference finals
MIAMI (AP) — Dwyane Wade’s rookie season ended with a playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers. The next year, the Miami Heat were headed to the Eastern Conference finals and certain that an NBA championship was in their sights.
That’s when Wade learned a valuable lesson: Never take playoff chances for granted. Wade hurt his rib cage on a simple crossover dribble during that 2005 East title series, and the Heat season ended with a Game 7 home loss to Detroit. He’s been to the East finals three times since, prevailing in them all, and on Wednesday will look to take a first step toward a fourth conference championship when the Heat play host to the Pacers in Game 1 of their playoff rematch from a year ago.
“I know I’m blessed to be going to the Eastern Conference finals for my fifth time,” Wade said. “But I would like a lot more in my career. It’s a good thing. We’ve been very successful in my tenure here. But I want more.”
For Wade and Udonis Haslem, this marks five East finals appearances in nine years. For LeBron James, it’s a fifth trip to this round in the past seven years, now three straight with Miami after a pair of trips to the East finals with Cleveland. For Ray Allen, it’s a fourth East title-round trip in six years, the first three of those coming with Boston. Experience, it all favours Miami. For the Pacers, this is pretty much uncharted waters. Only one current Pacers player has ever appeared in a conferencefinal game, and that was backup big man Ian Mahinmi, who played exactly 71 seconds in one game of the 2011 West title series without so much as taking a shot. Nonetheless, the Pacers seem far from bothered by the fact that this stage is a new place for them.
“There’s four teams left playing basketball in the NBA and this is something we’ve been looking forward to all year,” Pacers forward David West said. “We lost to this team in the second round last year, so we’ve already gotten a step farther this season.”
Indiana took Miami to six games last season, leading the series 2-1 at one point, and left an impact on the Heat with words, actions and play. The series was always physical, at times bloody, and it took some superb efforts by Wade and James for Miami — which was without Chris Bosh for 5 1/2 of those six games — to put the Pacers away.
It’s not in the nature of either of these teams to back down from physicality, and tough play will almost certainly be a theme in this series. But if there’s one thing the Pacers and Heat agree upon, it’s that this series will be decided by execution, not intimidation.
“I think this will be about substance,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “This series has plenty to offer without hard fouls and trash-talking. It’s going to be about basketball.”