Pacers Take Game 1 In Eastern Conference Finals

 

For those who watched Sunday's impressive performance from the questionable Pacers, you views may have changed. The team steps up big and takes game one showing they'll compete in this aggressive series. The rANT gives his thoughts on gmae one of the series after the jump.

Pacers Won Game 1.. Big Whup!

 The Indiana Pacers are not my team but I am very hard on them. The main reason is Roy Hibbert but I already made my feelings known about him a couple weeks ago. Another reason is that even though they are the #1 seed in the East, this entire postseason they have not played like it. They should've lost the series against the Atlanta Hawks (*would've.. had Hawks C Al Horford been healthy). They've looked flat out AWFUL versus the Washington Wizards (Game 5 in particular) but they decided they wanted to win and pulled out a victory. Now they FINALLY won a Game 1 yesterday versus the Miami Heat (that was a good solid win) but I am still not impressed.

But Ant, man, they beat the Heat yesterday! The Pacers are BACK! Why are you still so skeptical???

Easy answer unless you're a Pacers diehard fan in denial. For the casual fans that don't know, I'll break it down..

1) Too many times they've become complacent. Being complacent or satisfied is THE WORST attitude you can have in the playoffs. During the regular season, they were 46-13 after beating the Utah Jazz. They finished the regular season 10-13 and they're currently 9-5 in the postseason. Like I stated before they could've easily gone home in the 1st round versus Atlanta. Against the Hawks, after winning Game 4 to tie the series, they relaxed and lost in Game 5. Eventually they won the series (and celebrated like they won the NBA Finals) in 7 games. But against the Wizards, they were complacent from beating Atlanta and threw away Game 1. Indiana won the next 3 games (2 of them in DC), started feeling themselves, and got molly-whopped (aka pummeled, whacked, destroyed, etc.) in Game 5 by 23 (they were down as many as 30 and was out-rebounded by 39 on the glass). The Pacers finished the series in 6. Miami is THE LAST team you want to relax against.

2) Miami will make you pay if you decide to relax. You can say whatever you want against the Heat but they are no pushovers. They aren't just going to give you a win, especially in the playoffs. The Heat know very well about the importance of eliminating an opponent quickly (swept the Bobcats & defeated the Nets in 5) so they can have as much rest as possible before the next series. They also have that #6 guy, he's pretty good. The mutual attitude between Miami & Indiana is that they don't like each other. You fall asleep versus Miami ONE TIME and you'll be sorry very quickly because of it.

3) Miami isn't an inferior team. Yes Indiana is a 1-seed and Miami is a 2-seed.. but the Heat have won the past 2 championships and still have the best player. Indiana had a clear advantage over Atlanta (size & overall talent) but because of lazy effort, that series went all 7 games when in reality, it should've been over in 4 or 5. Washington is much better than Atlanta but Indiana is still bigger and much better defensively (when focused). The series against the Wizards probably went one game longer than it should have. Indiana has a huge size advantage over Miami but Miami has the superior offense, they can be just as good defensively, and they're stronger mentally. Before Game 1 was played, Lance told the media that he "hopes that Wade's knees flare up" during the game. The Pacers won but Wade finished with a game-high 27 points. Miami doesn't usually trade words through the media. They want to go out and play. The smallest thing can steer the Pacers off course mentally and when it happens, its extremely obvious.

If the Indiana Pacers come out and play Game 2 exactly like they played Game 1, thats when I'll start to believe in them. I'd also like to see them win at least 1 game in Miami. But Miami is no cakewalk. They will be a tough out, assuming Indiana can make that happen. The Pacers have got to stay laser-focused and bring their A+ game every single game. They cant have anymore double-zero games from Hibbert moving forward.

Thanks for reading! Twitter: @the_rANT_