The Indiana Pacers need to win Game 6 to not force a seventh and final game in this series, but to keep their season alive. But that was put in serious jeopardy on Saturday night when the Miami Heat came in and brought it hard against the Pacers in an environment that looked like it would give the Pacers the boost they needed.
LeBron James should up big time for the Heat but Miami made the mistake of relying on him too much. There’s no questioning that James is the best player in the NBA today, but he can only do so much which is exactly what we saw on Saturday night. James led the Heat the whole game but too much was placed on him and he’s not in the familiar position of having his abilities questioned by armchair coaches.
Chris Andersen isn’t given a ton of credit for being a big part of the Heat’s bench but everyone, not just the ones watching closely, saw how valuable he is to this team. His absence was beyond noticeable as the Heat were lacking not just his production but his intensity as well.
Indiana fell behind and tried to keep up with the Heat but couldn’t seem to get the boost they needed. Then, in the third quarter, things clicked for the Pacers and they strung together a 29-15 run that ended up putting Indiana up 13 points entering the final quarter of play.
Paul George was huge for the Pacers in Game 6 as he helped Indiana lead by as much as 17 in the fourth quarter and was once again looking like the superstar leader the Pacers need in order to upset the Heat. The Pacers managed a 9-0 run late in the fourth quarter that saw LeBron James commit a questionable offensive foul in which he proceeded to sprint to the other end of the court like a child throwing a tantrum and draw the technical foul.
James did hit Roy Hibbert with his elbow on the foul but overall the foul was a questionable one due to the fact it looked like Hibbert was the one that should have had the foul called on. Still, the foul and LeBron’s reaction was the embodiment of the fourth quarter for Miami as they completely imploded into themselves and now have to compose themselves for a Game 7 back in South Beach.
Something the Pacers haven’t done all series long is win two games in a row. That’s something they now need to do if they want to beat the Heat as Game 7 doesn’t afford them the ability to lose a game and then get it back the game after. So far this series that has been the strategy for the Pacers but it’s do or die time and Indiana needs to bring it against the Heat like they haven’t all series long.
The crowd played a major factor in the final quarter of the game as the Pacers fed off the energy from their fans and it kept them going against a Heat team that uses any and all mistakes to mount comebacks. But a comeback just wasn’t in the cards for the Heat and they can blame whoever they want, but it was a systematic breakdown across the board for the Heat.
But Game 7 is a stage this team lives for and it’s going to be in front of a Heat friendly crowd — which doesn’t bode well for the Pacers. But while the Heat will have home court advantage, they may end up feeding off the crows more than you’d think as there are few feelings more satisfying than stunning an arena packed with opposing fans.
We wanted this game to go a full seven and it now has. This has been the best series of the playoffs and not even the NBA Finals may be able to live up to the intensity and ferociousness we saw from these two teams the past six games. But while the first six games have been a wild ride, none of them hold a candle to what is in store for Game 7.