A Retrospective of the LeBron James vs. Indiana Pacers Rivalry
By Jared Wade
The LeBron James Game-Winner Hibbert Watched
by Jon Washburn
Whenever you get bounced from the postseason three straight times by the same team, there is going to be animosity.
Animosity takes different forms though.
As a Pacers fan, I despise Dwyane Wade for being a dirty player, for body checking a hapless Darren Collison, for sucking all year and then randomly hitting 3-pointers against the Pacers.
With LeBron? I just kind of hate that he always beats us.
Oh sure, he flops every now and then, and he whines to the refs constantly. But mostly, he just finds a way to kick Indiana’s butt every postseason and there’s nothing the Pacers can do about it.
The defining moment, to me, was the final two seconds against a Hibbert-less lineup from two years ago.
The Indiana Pacers had outplayed the Heat for large stretches, and Paul George was morphing into a superhero before our very eyes. Hibbert’s verticality was in full swing, David West was MISTER WEST, Lance was breaking out, and the Pacers were absolutely even with a team that had won 27-straight games and had been garnering “best team ever?” discussions for two months.
The Pacers had forced overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Miami’s home court. And they led by 1 with 2.2 seconds to play.
Then, in a flash, LeBron erased it.
Paul George overplayed the pass and Roy Hibbert was improbably off the court, as Frank Vogel decided to put in smaller defenders who could switch out on jumpshooters.
Would Hibbert’s presence had mattered? I don’t know. I don’t really even care. Human beings shouldn’t be able to catch the ball sprinting in one direction, pivot, explode by the best wing defender in the league, and get to the rim in two seconds.
LeBron is not human. Every time I think about that play, I’m reminded of that small fact.
It never mattered how good the Pacers got – they were still mere humans vainly fighting against an immortal.
I eagerly await the return of PG, but there’s this dark, sad spot deep inside of me that fears it ultimately won’t matter as long as LeBron is still alive.
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