Indiana Pacers: Why getting swept by the Miami Heat was not a fluke
Even if the Indiana Pacers were at full strength, they’re just fundamentally ill-equipped to handle the Miami Heat’s playstyle, zone defense and personnel. Nate McMillan’s squad played an old-school offense predicated on pick and rolls and post-ups without generating many threes and off-ball movement, a recipe for disaster against Erik Spoelstra’s army of rangy, athletic wings.
Indy boasted great defense in the season, ranking 6th, but their lack of scoring depth and variance didn’t make it feasible to simply turn the series into a slugfest, especially with Miami’s abundance of playmakers and shooters. And even when they tried to make it into a high-scoring affair, their exploits didn’t last for 48 minutes, notably collapsing in the second half for the entire series.
While Sabonis could’ve been a huge difference, the Heat similarly have a weapon of their own who can streamline his production in Bam Adebayo, who is one of the league’s best defenders. Butler also substantially slowed down leading scorer TJ Warren. In its entirety, only Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner played consistent basketball for Indiana.
As for the bubble, the Heat simply had the more experienced bunch and they were evidently the most resilient to the vast changes inside. With a team culture and locker room that strong, there was no way that they would come out of the games flat and shoot themselves in the foot. When they lost, it was simply due to their opponent being a lot better.
Alas, Miami was a simply in a mission last season. While most had their eyes on Milwaukee and Toronto meeting in an eventual rematch, the Heat crashed the party and seized the conference crown. And with the compromises in the bubble highlighting their off-court advantages, no team in the East was able to slow them down, much less stop them.