NBA Playoffs: Heat Roll Over Pacers in Game 3, Take 2-1 Lead

May 26, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers center Ian Mahinmi (28) and Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) battle for position in game three of the Eastern Conference finals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Heat won 114-96. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

Miami Heat 114 Indiana Pacers 96

 How Miami Won: It was almost as if the Heat went through a whole team makeover after their game 2 loss.  Instead of focusing on spacing players near the three-point line, Miami decided to attack down low and control the paint.  They did just that, outscoring the Pacers 52-26 in the paint, while shooting 54 percent from the field.

Miami decided to post up Lebron James more, and he easily took Paul George to school in the low post as the Pacers refused to double team him.  James finished with 22 points, while Dwayne Wade added 18 points and 8 assists.  Chris Bosh scored 15 points, but the role players stepped up big for the first time this series.  Udonis Haslem scored 17 points on 8 for 9 shooting, Mario Chalmers added 14 points, and Chris Andersen continues to not miss in this series, as he went 4 for 4 and scored 9 points.  Andersen has made his last 16 shots, and is currently shooting 85 percent from the field for the series.  The all-time mark for field goal percentage in a seven game series is 75 percent, set by James Donaldson in the 1986 playoffs.

The Heat played a near perfect game in the first half.  They broke the franchise playoff record of points scored in a half with 70, and committed just 1 turnover.  Miami turned the ball over just six times in the game, with James having none.

 How Indiana Lost: The whole Pacers team just looked flat defensively.  They were caught a bit off guard with Miami’s new offensive scheme, but Indiana didn’t play with the same intensity, tenacity, and determination on defense that it did in the first two games.  Playing well on the offense end, the Pacers did score 56 points in the first half, but they just could not get any stops in the second half to reduce the lead.

It’s hard to single out any player, but Paul George had the worst game of the playoffs.  He shot just 3 for 10 from the field for 13 points, and was manhandled in the post by James.  Far too many times was James able to dribble the ball five or six times in the block without the Pacers sending a double team, and he was able to dominate in the paint.

 Roy HIbbert scored 20 points and grabbed 17 assists, while David West added 21 points and 10 rebounds.  George Hill added 19 points, but the Pacers received no production from their bench yet again.  Their bench was outscored 28-17, with Tyler Hansbrough(4 points) as their leading scorer.

 It Was Over When:  The Pacers made a run in the opening moments of the second half, to cut the Heat lead to 74-67.  Head coach Erik Spoelstra called a time-out and Miami answered with a 9-4 run, and extended the lead to 91-76 at the end of the third quarter.  Indian never cut the lead to single digits for the rest of the game.

 Quote of the Night:  “It was something we wanted to get to just to help settle us and get into a more aggressive attack.  We wanted to be a little more aggressive, a little more committed to getting into -the paint and seeing what would happen. LeBron was very committed and focused not to settle.”  – Erik Spoelstra on posting up Lebron James more 

Box Score:

Miami Heat

STARTERS

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

23

8-9

0-0

1-1

1

6

7

1

0

0

1

4

+9

17

41

8-17

0-1

6-6

0

4

4

3

0

0

0

0

+22

22

24

6-10

2-3

1-1

0

3

3

0

1

0

0

4

-3

15

28

4-6

0-0

6-7

0

1

1

4

1

0

0

5

+9

14

35

8-14

0-0

2-3

1

3

4

8

1

2

2

2

+4

18

BENCH

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

3

0-2

0-0

1-2

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

-1

1

22

4-4

0-0

1-2

3

6

9

0

0

2

0

4

+10

9

2

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

+2

0

21

1-4

1-4

4-4

0

2

2

1

0

0

0

2

+16

7

3

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

2

-3

0

15

1-5

1-2

2-2

0

1

1

1

2

0

0

1

+12

5

19

2-6

2-4

0-0

1

0

1

2

1

1

1

4

+14

6

3

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

3

3

1

0

0

0

1

-1

0

TOTALS

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

PTS

Indiana Pacers

STARTERS

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

36

8-16

0-0

5-8

4

6

10

1

0

0

2

5

-5

21

42

3-10

2-4

5-8

0

2

2

8

0

0

5

3

-17

13

37

4-12

0-0

12-15

7

10

17

3

0

2

2

4

-16

20

37

5-10

3-3

6-7

0

1

1

2

0

0

1

3

-9

19

34

2-10

2-5

1-2

0

1

1

2

1

0

0

3

+2

7

BENCH

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

12

2-7

0-0

0-2

3

2

5

0

0

0

0

4

-11

4

3

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

-2

0

8

1-1

0-0

0-0

2

1

3

0

0

0

0

1

-12

2

3

1-1

0-0

0-0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

-2

2

8

2-2

0-0

0-0

2

2

4

0

0

0

0

1

0

4

3

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

-2

0

13

1-1

1-1

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

-14

3

3

0-3

0-1

1-2

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

-2

1

TOTALS

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

PTS