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After a crazy Overtime win with 2.2 seconds left. The Miami Heat host the
Indiana Pacers tonight in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Will
the Pacers be able to bounce back from a devastating loss or will Miami pull
ahead to take a 2-0 lead in the series…
We shall see !!!
Game 2 tonight on TNT at 8:30pm
MIAMI (AP) — Dwyane Wade’s rookie season ended with a playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers. The next year, the Miami Heat were headed to the Eastern Conference finals and certain that an NBA championship was in their sights.
That’s when Wade learned a valuable lesson: Never take playoff chances for granted.
Wade hurt his rib cage on a simple crossover dribble during that 2005 East title series, and the Heat season ended with a Game 7 home loss to Detroit. He’s been to the East finals three times since, prevailing in them all, and on Wednesday will look to take a first step toward a fourth conference championship when the Heat play host to the Pacers in Game 1 of their playoff rematch from a year ago.
“I know I’m blessed to be going to the Eastern Conference finals for my fifth time,” Wade said. “But I would like a lot more in my career. It’s a good thing. We’ve been very successful in my tenure here. But I want more.”
For Wade and Udonis Haslem, this marks five East finals appearances in nine years. For LeBron James, it’s a fifth trip to this round in the past seven years, now three straight with Miami after a pair of trips to the East finals with Cleveland. For Ray Allen, it’s a fourth East title-round trip in six years, the first three of those coming with Boston.
Experience, it all favors Miami.
For the Pacers, this is pretty much uncharted waters. Only one current Pacers player has ever appeared in a conference-final game, and that was backup big man Ian Mahinmi, who played exactly 71 seconds in one game of the 2011 West title series without so much as taking a shot. Nonetheless, the Pacers seem far from bothered by the fact that this stage is a new place for them.
“There’s four teams left playing basketball in the NBA and this is something we’ve been looking forward to all year,” Pacers forward David West said. “We lost to this team in the second round last year, so we’ve already gotten a step farther this season.”
SAN ANTONIO — The feigned look of shock upon the face of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told the story.
When informed before Sunday’s game that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers would not play against the Spurs, Popovich laid the sarcasm on thick. Earlier this season, it was Popovich who sent his six leading scorers home to San Antonio at the end of a road trip and played the Heat with a skeleton crew. Now, in Popovich’s estimation, it was the Heat’s time to spite San Antonio.
“What kind of [expletive] is that?” said Popovich, putting his whole body into the performance like some Shakespearian stage actor.
Popovich stumbled backward and held his heart.
“Who’d think of something like that?” Popovich said. “That’s below the belt. There’s no place for that.”
In other words, touché.
Popovich was fined $250,000 by the NBA for his stunt, which happened on a Thursday night in Miami for a nationally televised game by TNT.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said resting James and Wade because of minor injuries had nothing to do with Popovich’s previous decision to rest his players.
“I can see where you guys would draw those conclusions, but no,” Spoelstra said when asked whether his move to rest James and Wade had anything to do with the Popovich’s strategy.
Unlike when Popovich sent his stars home to avoid the Heat, the NBA issued no statements regarding the Heat’s decision to rest James, Wade and Chalmers. James sat out with a sore right hamstring, according to Spoelstra, and Wade needed the night off after he “re-tweaked every minor injury he had in the New Orleans game.” Chalmers missed his second game in a row with an injury to his right ankle.
“Mario now hasn’t had a lot of progress actually in the last couple days, so we’ll just have to slow down and see how he feels day by day,” Spoelstra said.
Spoelstra added that James was held out of the fourth quarter against the Hornets on Friday because of his injury. He had 36 points after three quarters, and the Heat held a large advantage.
“We have a deep team for a reason, and we never know or can predict what will happen in the playoffs,” Spoelstra said. “And this is a perfect example of it. This was unforeseen.”
James, Wade and Chalmers are questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Knicks. Spoelstra said they would be “reevaluated” on Monday.
With nine games remaining in the season and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs wrapped up, the Heat has the luxury of resting its players for the upcoming playoffs. Last season, Spoelstra referred to it as the Heat’s “maintenance program.”
“We’ll have a day-by-day approach,” Spoelstra said. “Obviously, our health will be the No.1 thing but, secondly, we want to continue to improve, and we don’t want to lose sight of that.
“But you’re getting to this time of year and virtually every team is dealing with something and we had a stretch of 17 games and this will be our 18th in the month and so, knock on wood, we’ve survived that stretch pretty well. But guys have gotten a little nicked up, and we’ll manage that every day.”
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The Chicago Bulls got physical with the Heat and said not in our house will yall
continue this streak… Heat winning streak snapped at 27, so the Lakers 33 game
winning streak record is still in tact….
CHICAGO – The Miami Heat’s 27-game winning streak was snapped Wednesday
night by the Chicago Bulls, 101-97, when a furious comeback by LeBron James
and his teammates fell short.
The Heat finished six games short of the record held by the 1971-72 Los Angeles
Lakers. Luol Deng scored 28 points, Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 17 rebounds,
and the Bulls brought the Heat’s pursuit of the record to a screeching halt despite
another big game from James. Miami’s superstar did all he could to keep the run
going, scoring 32 points in a physical final few minutes that saw the MVP even
collect a flagrant foul.
The Heat hadn’t lost since the Pacers beat them in Indianapolis on Feb. 1. But
after grinding out some close wins lately, including a rally from 27 down in
Cleveland, they simply came up short down the stretch in this one.
For the better part of two months, they were the NBA’s comeback kings. They
erased seven double-digit deficits during the streak. They found themselves
trailing in the fourth quarter 11 times, and won them all.
Not Wednesday.
And when they walked off the floor in Chicago, they were not happy. Faces were
stoic as the Heat trudged toward the locker room. James turned and glared at one
fan who grabbed at his head. Meanwhile, the Bulls whooped and slapped hands
with anyone they could reach, with some acknowledging that being the team
that snapped the streak meant plenty.
