Indiana Pacers take preemptive strike against Miami Heat

Posted by Spoelstra Heat | Posted on 13-05-2012

Category : Miami Heat, Playoff 2012

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Indiana Pacers take preemptive strike against Miami Heat

Don King must be the Pacers’ new director of public relations.

A less-than-exciting, second-round series for the Heat took a turn toward slightly interesting Wednesday and Thursday when the Pacers’ All-Star center and then the team’s coach tossed a few verbal jabs Miami’s way. King, the master boxing promoter, would be impressed.

First, Indiana center Roy Hibbert fired off a shot at the Heat when he set in motion the team-vs.-collection-of-superstars narrative.

Then, as if that wasn’t enough pregame trash talk for one second-round series, Pacers coach Frank Vogel took it a step further when he said Thursday that the Heat’s defense is a flop machine.

“They are the biggest flopping team in the NBA,” Vogel said.

Vogel, who finished third in voting this season for the NBA’s Coach of the Year Award, is no doubt preparing league officials for what’s sure to be a physical series.

For his part, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Wednesday that he expects the series to be “played in a cage.” The Heat, which was tied for fourth in the league this season in charges drawn per game (2.3), absorbed seven offensive fouls in its first-round win over the Knicks.

Although wingmen Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Danny Granger will headline the Eastern Conference semifinals matchup, the series could hinge on the battle inside the paint.

That’s where the Pacers command a height advantage with Hibbert at center and David West at power forward.

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BY JOSEPH GOODMAN
JGOODMAN@MIAMIHERALD.COM

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If experience matters, Heat have an edge on Pacers

Posted by Spoelstra Heat | Posted on 12-05-2012

Category : Miami Heat, Playoff 2012

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If experience matters, Heat have an edge on Pacers

MIAMI (AP) Combined, the players in the current Indiana starting lineup have a total of 90 playoff games between them.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade – each by himself – have more than that.

So if experience matters for anything in this Miami-Indiana matchup in the Eastern Conference semifinals, then advantage Heat, and in a big way.

This is the first trip to the second round for the Pacers since 2005, and of their starters, only George Hill and David West have ever appeared in anything beyond a first-round matchup.

”I know they’re a very good team and I know they have a good inside and outside game and have a few guys who can get it going,” Wade said Friday.

”For the guys that they play, they’re all very talented and they’re very deep.”

The Heat say when they see the Pacers, they don’t see an untried group. They see a team that won 42 games, something only San Antonio, Chicago, Oklahoma City and Miami topped in the regular season.

”They’ve earned it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

”A lot of teams have talked about circumstances and things that have happened during the course of the year, right or wrong. The Pacers earned it. They were the third-best team in the East at the end of the day, fourth-best road record and the fifth-best record in the league. So despite all the different story lines, they earned that right.”

Game 1 of the best-of-seven is Sunday in Miami.

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By TIM REYNOLDS | The Associated Press

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Paul George gets task of slowing D-Wade

Posted by Spoelstra Heat | Posted on 12-05-2012

Category : Miami Heat, Playoff 2012

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Paul George gets task of slowing D-Wade

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Pacers won’t be double-teaming Dwyane Wade. Thanks to Paul George, they don’t feel that will be necessary.

George, a 6-foot-9 guard, made a name for himself last year as a rookie when he challenged Derrick Rose in the first round of the playoffs.

Now, he’ll face Wade, one of the league’s quickest players, in the second round of this year’s playoffs. He’ll get a chance to see how far he’s come, starting with the opener Sunday in Miami.

”I’m going in with the same mindset,” George said.

”He’s a good player, but he’s human. He’s liable for turnovers, and I can just get the pressure and make it tough for him this series.”

George spent most of the first half of last season on Jim O’Brien’s bench. When Frank Vogel took over as coach at midseason, George got more playing time. He wowed crowds with his acrobatic dunks and highlight-reel blocks, creating a buzz with his enormous potential.

George’s success against Rose last year gave him a boost heading into the offseason. He improved his shot, put on muscle and studied.

”For him to grow toward the end of last year and have a strong performance in the playoffs against Derrick Rose, I think, just brought him back this season with a great deal of confidence,” Vogel said.

”He had a number of steps along the way this year where he had strong defensive performances, and quite frankly, in my mind, it puts him among the best wing defenders in the league.”

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By CLIFF BRUNT | The Associated Press

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Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers: It’s role reversal from their meeting in 2004 playoffs

Posted by Spoelstra Heat | Posted on 12-05-2012

Category : Miami Heat, Playoff 2012

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Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers: It’s role reversal from their meeting in 2004 playoffs

No one knows exactly what will occur in the next couple of weeks, whether the Heat will make quick work of the comparatively anonymous Pacers, or whether Indiana’s height, balance and depth will push Miami to the limit.

This is for certain, however.

In this playoff encounter, the second between the franchises, Dwyane Wade will be on the floor when it counts.

That wasn’t the case in Game 6 of the second round of 2004, when Wade was a rookie and the teams’ roles were reversed – the Heat was the young upstart, the Pacers were the proven contender.

“No expectations,” Wade said. “Whatever we did in that series was a plus.”

That season, 19 wins separated the squads in the standings, and Miami was supposed to be a speed bump on the Pacers’ path to a showdown with Detroit.

It certainly played out that way through the first two games in Indiana, before Wade’s 45 combined points in Games 3 and 4 helped even things up.

“I think that’s when I made a little name for myself in that series,” Wade said.

He actually started making it to the nation – which had been fixated on the rookie brilliance of Cleveland’s LeBron James and Denver’s Carmelo Anthony – with his clutch work in the seven-game squeaker against New Orleans.

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By ETHAN J. SKOLNICK, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

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Miami Heat works on late-game situations

Posted by Spoelstra Heat | Posted on 12-05-2012

Category : Miami Heat, Playoff 2012

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Miami Heat works on late-game situations

Two days after squandering a last-second chance to tie or win Game 4, the Heat spent part of Tuesday’s practice working on late-game situations “so we’ll be more comfortable in our package,” Dwyane Wade said.

To refresh: With his team down two, Wade received the inbound pass with 13.2 seconds left, dribbled, fumbled the ball briefly, recovered, and missed a difficult 24-foot three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left.

“Look, guys,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “If you get Dwyane Wade going down the lane with an open lane, and you’re down by two, I think you take that. It was a pretty good opportunity to attack the rim. It was a broken play, and we know what happened from there. …

“We had an open trigger for LeBron James. We had an open window on the second one with Chris Bosh. Just made the wrong read, and it ended up being a miscommunication between him and Dwyane. Otherwise, that would have been a pretty good opportunity.”

The Heat is now 6 for 16 this season – and 9 for 36 since the Big 3 was assembled – on shots to tie the game or go ahead in the final 24 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime. Wade is 3 for 7 on those shots this season, James 1 for 2.

“I got a step on Amare Stoudemire, which I wanted,” Wade said of the last play. “I just lost the ball. I would do it all over again.”

Said James: “Last play, we could have executed a lot better.”

Bosh said he “was trying to get to an open spot” on that play to give Wade another option.

” Michael Jordan made it look so easy,” Bosh said of late-game shots. “It’s a low-percentage shot.”

TNT’s Kenny Smith said on that last possession, “I would have had the ball in LeBron’s hands and let Wade set the pick” instead of Wade with the ball and Bosh setting the screen.

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Barry Jackson, Miami Herald

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Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra stuck in no-win situation

Posted by Spoelstra Heat | Posted on 12-05-2012

Category : Erik Spoelstra, Playoff 2012

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Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra stuck in no-win situation

Back against a wall, enclosed by a semicircle of media pressed in uncomfortably close, stands the luckiest coach in the NBA, and also the unluckiest. He is the same man, for the same reason.

He has LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, meaning the best thing coach Erik Spoelstra can do is not mess it up.

Championships (that’s plural) are expected here with this group. Dominance is expected. Perfection would be nice, too, apparently, to a degree the occasional loss always feels like the earth has quaked from its axis, the cause something to be placed under a microscope and examined so it won’t happen again.

The Heat is in great shape in its first-round series against the Knicks, up 3-1 entering Game5 here Wednesday night. But because the last game up in New York was a loss, what-went-wrong-and-why were still the arrows flying at Spoelstra.

“We understand that when we win, there’s no story, no noise,” the coach tells his inquisitors following Tuesday’s practice at the Heat’s downtown arena. “And that when we don’t, the decibel level is up.”

I found it interesting that as the coach spoke, club president Pat Riley and owner Micky Arison – the men whose ingenuity and money made the Big3 happen – sat at a courtside table as work in the practice gym wound down, their gaze literally upon the job their coach is doing with what he was given.

Spoelstra is Coach Can’t-Win.

Should Miami end this playoff run with an NBA championship, it would be – by broad national consensus – on account of the Big 3 rising. It would be because talent prevailed. It would be simply expected.

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BY GREG COTE
GCOTE@MIAMIHERALD.COM

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LeBron James, Dwyane Wade play role of closers as Miami Heat advances

Posted by Spoelstra Heat | Posted on 12-05-2012

Category : Miami Heat, Playoff 2012

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LeBron James, Dwyane Wade play role of closers as Miami Heat advances

Dwyane Wade and LeBron James left nothing to chance.

Led by its stars, the Heat played with an energy level not seen in this first round series since the opening game. It started with a blowout and it ended that way Wednesday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Sealing the deal with ease on its first postseason series victory against New York since 1997, the Heat defeated the Knicks 106-94 in Game 5 to clinch the series and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Heat will begin its second-round, best-of-7 series against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. Miami was 3-1 against Indiana in the regular season.

“It’s going to be a great series,” James said. “They’re well coached and they have a great inside-outside punch.”

Fans began launching their white seat covers into the air and onto the court in the final moments of Wednesday night’s game. But the game was long over before that.

A 14-2 run late in the third quarter put the Heat ahead by 18 points. A three-pointer by James with 7:26 left in the game gave the Heat a 92-75 lead.

“Nothing’s easy in the playoffs,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We feel good about moving on, and it will only get tougher from here.

“We feel confident we can put teams away, but it’s never easy.”

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Joseph Goodman, Miami Herald

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Dwyane Wade takes verbal jab at Knicks guard Mike Bibby

Posted by Spoelstra Heat | Posted on 11-05-2012

Category : Dwyane Wade, Playoff 2012

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Dwyane Wade takes verbal jab at Knicks guard Mike Bibby

MIAMI – First Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade throws Mike Bibby’s shoe during Game 1.

Now, Wade has taken what appears to be a playful feud to another level. When asked about Bibby before Wednesday’s Game 5, Wade decided to take a jab at his former teammate.

“We know Mike has made more shots in this series than he made all last year [with the Heat],” Wade said. “Send that to Mike.”

Bibby made his first start of the series for the New York Knicks, replacing the injured Baron Davis.

Bibby entered Wednesday’s game 5 of 13 from 3-point range during the series, including hitting a key basket late in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ Game 4 victory Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

It was hardly the Bibby who played for the Heat last year.

A late-season acquisition by Miami last year, Bibby was applauded for giving up a $6.2 million salary so he could compete for a championship.

An experienced Bibby was expected to become the ideal 3-point threat to complement Wade and LeBron James, but it never materialized. Bibby struggled during the Heat’s run to the NBA Finals, shooting 25 percent (17 of 66) from 3-point range.

Confidence was eventually lost when Bibby was replaced by Mario Chalmers in the starting lineup. Bibby did not play in the Heat’s series-clinching loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6, giving validation to Wade’s claim.

He and Wade were first linked in the opening game of this series. When Bibby lost one of his shoes in the backcourt during the second quarter, Wade picked it up and tossed it out bounds while play was still going.

The Knicks still scored on other end, but Bibby glared at Wade after the incident.

“I’d never done that before, but it was fun,” Wade said at the time. “I love messing with Mike, with Bibbs.”

By Shandel Richardson, Sun Sentinel

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Why Miami Heat Don’t Want L.A. Lakers in the NBA Finals

Posted by Spoelstra Heat | Posted on 11-05-2012

Category : Miami Heat, Playoff 2012

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Why Miami Heat Don’t Want L.A. Lakers in the NBA Finals

The path is clear for the Miami Heat to get back to the NBA Finals for the second year in a row. It’s hard to imagine any team that can give them more than a valiant effort. That doesn’t mean they have a cakewalk to the NBA championship, though.

If you’re a Heat fan, the last team you want to face is the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers might be the third-best team record-wise in the Western Conference, but when it comes to a seven-game series, it’s all about matchups.

When you consider the different facets of the game – the point guard, the wings, the bigs and the bench – it’s apparent that the Lakers have the biggest advantage.

It’s not rocket science how the Miami Heat win; it’s on the strength of their wings. You simply can’t quantify how good the Heat are in that respect. LeBron James leads the NBA in player efficiency rating this year with 30.7. Dwyane Wade is third with 26.3.

That’s a combined PER of 57. The NBA’s next best duo is Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook with 50.2.

Chris Bosh is arguably the best third option in the NBA. He would be the first option on most teams, but he has willingly accepted a backseat role to play with the other two stars.

Make no mistake about it, though; this team flies because it has wings. There could not be a better metaphor. They fly up and down the court, forcing turnovers on defense and turning that defense into easy offense, which James and Wade execute brilliantly.

That’s the strength of the Heat. Everything revolves around their two future Hall of Famers (Is Bosh a Hall of Famer? Not yet.), and their success depends on it.

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By Kelly Scaletta (Featured Columnist)

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James scores 29, Heat oust Knicks 106-94

Posted by Spoelstra Heat | Posted on 10-05-2012

Category : Miami Heat, Playoff 2012

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James scores 29, Heat oust Knicks 106-94

MIAMI (AP) The final horn sounded, and LeBron James wrapped his arms around Carmelo Anthony in a warm embrace.

Their head-to-head scoring matchup in this series was even, 139 points apiece.

Just about everything else tipped Miami’s way – so the Heat are moving on and the New York Knicks are going home.

James had 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade both scored 19 points and the Heat ousted the shorthanded Knicks 106-94 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference first-round series Wednesday night.

The Heat won the series 4-1, and will meet Indiana in the East semifinals starting Sunday in Miami.

”We do not take this for granted,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ”This was a tough series. We feel very good about moving on and it’ll only get tougher from here.”

For the Heat, it was only the first step. The reigning East champions have one goal – getting back to the finals and winning it all – and that was likely why even beating the franchise’s longtime rival prompted, at most, a subdued celebration.

”We will savor this win tonight,” James said. ”And then we get to work tomorrow and get ready for Indiana.”

Anthony scored 35 points for the Knicks, including a spinning jumper over James at the end of the third quarter that pulled New York within 81-67.

It was far from being enough to stave off an all-too-familiar playoff result for Anthony, part of that 2003 draft class that also yielded James, Bosh and Wade.

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By TIM REYNOLDS | The Associated Press

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