Pacers-Heat series to settle who’s best in East
It should not be surprising that the two topseeded teams in the East have advanced to the conference finals. Over the 82-game grind of the regular season, the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat crushed the competition, and each of their four meetings — split 2-2 with the home team winning each — was billed as a conference finals preview.
“This is the matchup we envisioned,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. “It seems like you could have just gotten to this point a long time ago.”
But the Pacers began to wear out down the regular season’s final stretch, and suddenly a team talked about as a championship contender was on the ropes in its firstround playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks.
But since falling behind 3-2 against the Hawks, the Pacers have gone 6-2 to reach the conference finals rematch, where the Heat ousted the Pacers in seven games last season.
“We worked so hard to get here,” Pacers guard Lance Stephenson said. “The Hawks, the Wizards, they put us through a lot. And we had (the media) talking bad about us. I think it made us stronger.”
The Heat’s path was far simpler. Behind LeBron James, who is averaging 30 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 56 percent from the field in the playoffs, Miami demolished the Charlotte Bobcats 4-0 (the only sweep of the playoffs so far), and then took care of the Nets in five games.
The Heat plays small and fast, but the Pacers have the weapons to beat them up and make them work for every point.
“It’s the best matchup for us because they were the best team in the Eastern Conference this year, and we want to be the best team in the East when it’s all said and done,” Wade said.
Injuries big in West
Two left legs might decide the matchup of the West’s best.
For the San Antonio Spurs, the strained left hamstring of Tony Parker could be a key to their success. Parker, a veteran point guard, is the Spurs’ leading scorer in the playoffs and a huge part of what makes the team so successful. He has said that the strain is not severe and that he will be able to play.
The news was worse for forward Serge Ibaka and the Oklahoma City Thunder. A defensive whiz, Ibaka has a strained left calf and is expected to be out for the rest of the playoffs. Losing Ibaka is a big blow.
The Thunder, however, has won 10 of its past 12 games against the Spurs — including all four this season — and Kevin Durant is regularly reminding everyone why he was named league MVP. He expressed confidence in his teammates.
“We’ve been together so long, we’ve grown a lot,” Durant said. “Guys have matured through every type of situation and every type of game. That’s definitely going to help out, but we have a long ways to go.”
San Antonio, perhaps more than any other team, has been able to find a team’s weakness and exploit it. Their path to the basket has cleared without Ibaka in the middle, but Spurs coach Gregg Poppovich said he expected a tough fight either way.
“It’s the conference finals, and players step up and play well,” he said. “That’s basically what it’s all about. Everyone is going to have energy, passion and those sorts of things, but execution for more of those 48 minutes is what it’s all about.”