Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat: Preseason Preview
Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat
May 22, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Indiana Pacers shooting guard George Hill (3) is defended by Miami Heat point guard Mario Chalmers (15) and Shane Battier (31) in the second quarter of game 5 of the 2012 NBA eastern conference semi-finals at the American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE
Miami Heat Off Season Recap
The Miami Heat won the NBA Finals, and helped give Lebron James his first of what he hopes is a few more championships. Lebron James had the best season of his career, so it’s not like the Heat needed to do much this off season. They did sign a couple of free agents in Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. The move to get Ray Allen gives the Heat a legit three point shooter, who won’t have to play too much, and can come in for some timely shots. Rashard Lewis can add whatever he can as well. I’ve never been a fan of his game, so I think he’s there just to earn a ring, personally.
So where will the Heat go this season? I would think anything less than another NBA Finals run would be a failure for this team. But when is the last time a champion has repeated? There’s going to be the focus issue for this team that has to stay on. If they lose a few games in a row, you know the media will be all over it. Most people are already calling them the champs for this coming season, and I believe Lebron wants to win more titles, so it should be interesting to see how this team handles that during the regular season.
Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat Match up
Well we saw last year in the playoffs how close this series could be with the Pacers up 2-1 at one point. The Heat were able to turn things around and win the series in six games. But there’s still a competitive nature and I would like to say some sort of rivalry brewing between the teams.
The Pacers want to prove that the team effort can win out against this “big three” type teams or teams with those big superstars. I think the first regular season meeting between the Heat and Pacers will feel like a playoff game. Granted, it will probably mean more to the Pacers as they want to get some wins against the Heat. The Heat are just looking for what they’ll do in the playoffs. They look to to be the best team in the NBA, so getting to the playoffs and winning is their ultimate goal.
That’s the goal of the Pacers as well, but they would like to get some wins in the regular season against the Heat, and build up that confidence to show they’re ready to contend. The best way I think for the Pacers to handle that would be for their big men in David West and Roy Hibbert to get some looks in the post. If the Pacers can take advantage in that area, it could go a long way towards winning against the Heat.
The Pacers have the talent to compete with the Heat, but they have to slow down one of the big stars, Lebron James or Dwayne Wade. Making one guy do more could help out the Pacers as well. It’s going to be a fun series in the regular season for these teams, and I think the Pacers want to meet the Heat in the playoffs at some point to put away the remnants of last year’s playoff loss to the Heat. Getting through the NBA Champion is a great way to put your team back in the minds of the NBA.