Heat vs. Pacers Final Score: Miami Pushes Indiana to the Brink After 90-79 Blowout Game 5 Win

The NBA world is waiting on the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers to settle their duel and see who will battle the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. But from the looks of things, we may have to wait until at least next week to see who that will be as the Heat and Pacers continued their back and forth in Game 5.

Something new happened in this game though as the Pacers looked like they needed help they don’t have. Lance Stephenson managed under 5 points and turned in a Bogus Keith Bogans like performance in a big spot for Indiana.  Not one member of the Pacers finished in the positive region of the plus/minus column which is really all you need to know about the Pacers effectiveness in Game 5.

Indiana is 1-3 when playing in South Beach and that might be a figure that is too great to overcome. If the Pacers are interested in winning this series, they have now backed themselves into a corner where they have to win two games in a row to make the Finals as the Heat’s victory in Game 5 puts the pressure on this young Pacers team.

So the Miami Heat once again have the upper hand in a series many projected they’d win. But don’t take the Pacers dragging this out to six games as a poor reflection of Miami’s talents. This is the first time all postseason long Miami has had a formidable opponent and it’s showing in how much they’re struggling at times against the Pacers.

It does appear as though the Heat are the better team in the series, but this could be a precursor to a thrilling NBA Finals that they Heat might not win. But while the Heat and their fans are looking forward to a series against the Spurs, they must first get past the Pacers and if history has shown us anything, it’s that we can expect a seventh game back in Miami next week.