Miami Heat now one win away from league record 4th straight trip to NBA Finals.
Monday night, the Miami Heat were back at AmericanAirlines Arena with hopes of remaining undefeated at home this post-season. The Indiana Pacers were looking to avoid their worst fear of the series by losing both road games and third straight for the series.
After witnessing a complete 4th quarter takeover Saturday night, where Ray Allen drained four three-pointers, the boys from Indy had very little time to process their loss. Before game-time, news surfaced that Chris “Birdman” Anderson was ruled out for game 4 with left thigh contusion suffered in the previous outing. Video highlights and more on the story after the jump.
Miami would look back to their veteran Rashard Lewis for defense he provided in his game 3 affair to contest some crucial late shots from David West. He was inserted into the starting lineup with the Heat’s bench trimmed down to Haslem, Battier, Cole and Ray Allen.
With the exception of Luis Scola, the Pacers have seen limited contributions from their role players, which mainly Evan Turner has been dealing with health issues and fatigue. The meeting started with Miami jumping out to a quick 8-0 run led by well-rested Chris Bosh, who was in foul trouble for the better part of their Saturday game. They would take a huge early lead with contributions essentially from the entire team and would never look back.
There’s nothing you can do here but move and get out the way.
David West carried Indiana all he could with George Hill providing some relief; but turnovers were key again this meeting seeing their 14 in comparison to Miami’s 5. Lance Stephenson got into early foul trouble missing nearly the entire second quarter, as the Pacers needed Roy Hibbert to step up in their biggest hour, but his 0-4 and 5 rebounds didn’t make things better. Lance would return to form in the 4th quarter, but questionable foul calls and more turnovers would decide their fate during the last late run. With LeBron James leading all scores at 32, Chris Bosh finally had his first great game of the series netting in 25 points.
Indiana now flies home for a win or go home style game 5 and will be looking at all cost to avoid losing on the home-court they wanted all season. Miami will also be playing to end the series and get much-needed rest they need to prepare for game 1 next Thursday. The San Antonio and Oklahoma City series looks to be extending longer than we initially expected following the emotional Thunder victory Sunday night with Serge Ibaka returning.
The King goes Coast-2-Coast past Paul George and company for the nasty finish.