Sweatin' Bullets: Pacers Beat Heat in Game 2

Sweatin’ Bullets is a recurring feature in which I touch on general comments, theories and observations of the most recent game.

• With Chris Bosh out indefinitely, we are all left to wonder who will fill the role of “third best player who is left out of Wade and Lebron’s press conference.”

• “Ronny Turiaf starts for the Miami Heat.” The Pacers shouldn’t need any more bulletin board material than that.

• Nobody ever wants to give Erick Spoelstra credit, but every player on the Miami Heat plays good defense and nothing comes easy for their opponents offensively. When Mike Miller seems like a good defender you know there is some good coaching going on.

• Aggression. That’s what you want from George Hill and Darren Collison. When Hill is aggressive on offense and Collison comes in and brings his own offensive flair, it is just a reminder of what the Heat lack. Mario Chalmers does what is asked of him for the Heat, but there is no doubt that either Hill or Collison would start for Miami.

• Lebron James makes Ronny Turiaf 439% better. This guy really is the MVP.

• I realize that Lebron James has physical attributes like no one one else in the NBA, but if you think that James was just “blessed” with natural talents then ask yourself why Paul George has had such a small impact on the playoffs thus far.

• Dahnaty Jones swag is in my top five favorite swags.

• Cheap Hansbrough fouls are frustrating.

• The terrible shooting an double-digit first half turnovers for the Pacers are just embarrassing. The Pacers did not show up ready to play competitive basketball with a great team. Luckily the Heat had no intentions of resembling a great team.

• A playoff game should not be this hard to watch through nearly three quarters. It’s hard to tell if both defenses were working their butt off or if both offenses were just kind of doing whatever.

• The Indiana Pacers flat out love the third quarter. Outscored the Heat 28-14 in this one.

• Lebron takes flopping to a whole different level. It seems like he is willingly putting his body in danger despite very little contact.

• Wade’s flagrant on Collison was pretty unnecessary, but at least the ball hit him directly in the face as it was happening.

• Did anybody else wake up when Granger and Lebron got into it?

• Marv Albert basically told the Miami Heat they don’t want to mess around with David West. They were correct.

• TNT ran a segment called “Miller Time” in which they provided a very boring explanation of why Danny Granger actually has four fouls instead of the earlier claim of five. Sweatin’ Bullets may not be globally popular, but I think it is more riveting than “Miller Time.”

• A jump ball against Lebron James is pretty much just a turnover.

• I can’t stand all the haters that claim that the NBA just consists of a bunch of athletic people without much fundamentals or skills. I also hope none of those people watched this game. They don’t need any more fuel.

• Niether of these teams really wanted to win this game.

• At least the Heat haven’t taken Chris Bosh for granted the past two years or anything…

• Let’s be honest, the Pacers won this game by default. Someone had to. Both teams had trouble executing, both teams missed shots, both teams forgot how to shoot free throws, but the team that played the hardest won.

• The Heat look like a very different team without Chris Bosh. I would expect them to come out and play better in Game 3, but Wade and Lebron looked relatively human and the supporting cast looked abysmal.

• The Pacers can win this series.