NBA Playoffs 2013, Heat vs. Pacers Game 7: Miami routs Indiana to advance

Most of you watching Game 7 probably had the same thought as I did. Why was the Miami Heat’s defense so stifling in Game 7 after being so dormant in five of the six previous games against the Indiana Pacers in the series? Why did it take so long for Miami to unleash its powerful trapping defense?

The easy answer is that Miami is a switch-flipping team. Paul Flannery alluded to this in his piece: Miami doesn’t always reach its highest gear, but when it does, there’s nobody that can play with them. It would be simplistic to say that the Heat only really tried their hardest in Game 7, when they had a true challenge on their hands.

Hibbert explained to Wells that he understood that some of his teammates probably felt more obligated to go through with the routine handshakes because they’d previously been teammates of some Heat players. He didn’t feel that was necessary, because he felt their “moment” was more important than a handshake:

No harm, no foul if Hibbert’s comments are genuine -- but it does paint an interesting picture on the TNT broadcast.

Wade’s renaissance was the story of Game 7, but don’t get it twisted. Without LeBron, Miami is already on summer vacation. Does anyone do casual brilliance better than James?

When the Heat play like this, they are downright frightening. By frightening, we mean on the defensive end, where they were all up in Indiana’s sets and passing lanes disrupting everything the Pacers tried to do offensively. This was the kind of effort we expected from the opening game, and while it’s to Indiana’s credit that it took this long to happen, it’s also still a bit worrisome that it took seven games for Miami to reach its fevered peak.

In the end, the Heat were on their way to another NBA Finals and the Heat bros were celebrating and jumping and stuff.

And yep, as the video above shows, Shaq went overboard. Thank goodness the producers were there to save him; no railing can hold a flailing Shaq. (Especially a post-retirement Shaq.) On Monday we lost the TNT crew for the season; we may have almost lost Shaq forever.

Via r/nba.

There’s two hilarious things happening here -- both of which didn’t happen on the court during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but in the crowd. The first is above. That’s a photo of Flo Rida and a GIANT JESUS PIECE. Also note the lady next to him, who is not amused by, like, anything.

The second is this:

The Miami Heat didn’t take any risks in a win-or-go-home Game 7, blowing the doors off the Indiana Pacers in a 99-76 rout to win the Eastern Conference Finals, 4-3. LeBron James had 32 points and finally got help from Dwyane Wade, who scored 21 points to help send the Big 3 to their third NBA Finals in as many seasons.

Miami forced 15 first-half turnovers and won the battle on the offensive glass, outrebounding Indiana, 43-36, after losing the same battle by 20 in Game 6. After some struggles early, the Heat opened up a 15-point lead at the halftime break. Miami would led by 20 for the vast majority of the second half.

CHUG. CHUG. CHUG. CHUG.

You’ll recall this LeBron James dunk in Game 7 where he almost kissed the rim. These two photos of the dunk -- Steve Mitchell of USA Today Sports, the other by Mike Ehrmann of USA Today Sports -- are incredible.

The Heat had some offensive issues early on, with James not really a factor. He didn’t shoot the ball for over seven minutes of game time, and his teammates didn’t pick up the slack. The team went the entire first period without assisting on a basket.

But Miami was able to stay in it thanks to turnovers and offensive rebounds. They mixed up their schemes on defense, playing aggressively and flustering the Pacers into nine turnovers in the first period. They also grabbed six offensive rebounds to give them a 28-15 advantage in shot attempts. Indiana still led 21-19 after one.

It’s perhaps even more amazing in video form:

And it’s simply unbelievable from the under-the-basket angle:

With all of that in mind, Monday’s Game 7 shapes up as one of the most memorable NBA events in recent memory.

Now with all the chips on the table, James once again needs to prove he’s capable of rising to the challenge. We’ve seen the world’s best player surpass our expectations enough times over the past decade to believe he’s capable of doing the same Monday night, but rarely has he faced an opponent like Indiana.

The Heat have not lost two games in a row since early January, and they have responded well to losses all playoffs. Miami has won by double-digits in all three games following a loss this postseason, and with the game being at home, it would be no surprise if the Heat came out with their best. But if Wade and Bosh put up another stinker, perhaps Indiana can pull off the stunner and advance to the NBA Finals.

Game time: 8:30 p.m. ET

While his three-point shooting ability could cause problems for Indiana, moving to a more perimeter-oriented game has hurt Bosh’s rebounding. But the Heat need scoring punch to help James, and so far the team has struggled to move the ball. In Game 6, the Heat recorded just 10 assists and scored 77 points on 36 percent shooting, and the problems made James’ 29-point outing a misleading one.

Bosh can remember last year well. He scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting -- including three triples -- as the Heat buried the Celtics 101-88 en route to the NBA Finals.

Miami owns a couple spots in the recent history of conference finals Game 7s, though the Heat had varying success in those games. And overall, while the Game 7s of conference finals matchups don’t necessarily have a correlation to which team wins the championship, they routinely find a highly-regarded place in the lore of the NBA playoffs.

The initial year of the Lakers’ run of three titles with both Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in tow almost didn’t happen. The Blazers led by 15 points early in the fourth quarter in this clincher, but Los Angeles mounted the greatest fourth-quarter, Game 7 comeback in history and outscored Portland, 31-13, in the final quarter for an 89-84 win. Bryant led the Lakers with 25 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks and hit go-ahead free throws late in the game to seal the victory.

The lead official will be Scott Foster, with Mike Callahan and Ken Mauer joining him for the crucial game. Tom Washington is the alternate official. Foster worked Game 2 of this series, while Callahan and Mauer worked together in Game 3.

• Flannery: All on the line for LeBron, Heat

This takes nothing away from the Pacers, who have displayed an uncommon resiliency throughout this series. They had Game 1 snatched away from them and they rallied to win Game 2. LeBron went supernova in Game 3 and they evened it up in Game 4. The Heat won Game 5 convincingly and the Pacers did the same in Game 6.

So, here we are with a Game 7 that wasn’t supposed to happen between one team facing its own early mortality and another playing well past the point of expectation. For one team, Game 7 is about survival. For the other, it’s about opportunity.

In the official release from the NBA, David Stern personally responds to the issue and calls the fine “necessary to reinforce that such offensive comments will not be tolerated by the NBA.”

Things went downhill for Hibbert when he responded to a question regarding how he finished 10th in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Hibbert responded by saying, “Y’all motherf--ers don’t watch us play throughout the year to tell you the truth. So that’s fine. I’m going to be real with you, and I don’t care if I get fined.” That was only the start of his verbal fumbling, however.

As you might guess, that’s the one game this series in which the Pacers didn’t get too many offensive rebounds (six in 32 chances.)

Here’s a look at offensive rebounding and overall offensive numbers for Indiana.

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