Wade, Bron Combine For 69 By Shooting 60 % To End Series
Remember last Thursday when Dwyane Wade scored only 5 points in his worst NBA performance ever and everybody wrote the Heat off in this series? Well fast-forward a week later and the Miami Heat closed out the Indiana Pacers in 6 games winning 3 straight. The Heat who were already without Chris Bosh since game 1 of this series; were also without another one of their key players in Udonis Haslem, who was suspended game 6 for a Flagrant 2 foul on Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough. Thursday night, Bankers Life Fieldhouse to no surprise was the loudest it had been in over decade since the 2000 finals as the Indiana Pacers jumped to quick 13-3 run. This run was led by Pacers bigs, Roy Hibbert and David West as the initial game plan (just like the previous 2 games) was to pound the ball inside the paint and score easy points since they clearly had the size advantage over Miami with Shane Battier guarding West. Miami eventually woke up in the first quarter scoring a pair of threes under 3 minute mark to pull the game back to singles digits. In the first 30 seconds of the 2nd quarter, D-Wade set the pace for the quarter as he came out hitting back to back jumpers. Wade scored 20 of Miami’s 30 points in the 2nd quarter alone displaying his signature styled moves and spectacular finishes for and-1’s. Down by 2 back from halftime the Heat were looking more focused than ever as they were ready to end this series. In the 3rd quarter the Heat came out on fire; no pun intended, as they outscored Indiana 28 to 16 to take a 10 point lead going in the last period. Miami ended the quarter going on a 13 to 3 with a last second three-pointer by Heat guard, Mario Chalmers with a fancy assist from LBL. By the 4th quarter with the game in complete control, the Heat just coasted to the finish line lead by Wade and LeBron scoring 21 of Miami’s 26 points to end the series.
In game 6 Miami forced 20 Indiana turnovers in this closer and Pacers star, Roy Hibbert finished with 12 points with 8 shot attempts in 40 minutes. D-Wade finished with the game high of 41 points and 10 boards, while King James chipped in 28 points, 7 dimes and 6 boards. As stated earlier after Wade’s horrendous game 3 performance, he finished the series in games 4, 5 and 6 (G-Rap) averaging 33 points to quiet critics and give Miami hope for another NBA finals bid. The Heat now head back home to South Beach for their 2nd consecutive year in the Eastern Conference finals to await the winner of the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers game 7.
76ers vs. Celtics Game 7 is scheduled this Saturday on ABC with a tip-off set for 8:00 pm (ET).
Win Or Go Home.
Heat Win 4-2
Game 1: Miami 95, Indiana 86
Game 2: Indiana 78, Miami 75
Game 3: Indiana 94, Miami 75
Game 4: Miami 101, Indiana 93
Game 5: Miami 115, Indiana 83
Game 6: Miami 105, Indiana 93
Game 7: at MIA, If Necessary