NBA Playoffs: Heat Blow Past Pacers in Game 7, Advance to Finals

Jun 3, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) shoots between Indiana Pacers power forward David West (21) and George Hill (3) in the fourth quarter during game 7 of the 2013 NBA Eastern Conference Finals at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell- USA TODAY Sports

Miami Heat 99 Indiana Pacers 76

 How Miami Won: When it mattered most, the defending champions rose to the occasion.  Lebron James scored 32 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, and an injured Dwyane Wade returned to his old form, finishing with a postseason high 21 points.

The Pacers lead 21-19 at the end of the first quarter, but after Ray Allen made his first three-point attempt to put Miami up 26-23 early in the second quarter, the defending champions never trailed for the rest of the game.  They outscored Indiana 33-16 in the period and lead by as much as 28 points at one point.

Allen scored 10 points off the bench, and despite shooting below 40 percent for the game as a team, the Heat stepped it up defensively.  With the return of Chris Andersen, they were able to keep up with the low post game of the Pacers, as both teams scored 30 points in the paint, and the Heat won the edge in rebounding, gaining a 43-36 advantage.  They were also aggressive offensively, as Miami shot 38 free throw attempts, while the Pacers shot just 20.

 How Indiana Lost: It just didn’t seem like the Pacers were ready for the big stage.  While they held their own in the first quarter, they weren’t able to overcome the storm of aggressive and swamping Heat defense.

 Roy Hibbert scored 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, while David West added 14 points and 6 rebounds.  George Hill scored 13 points, Lance Stephenson finished with 10, but Paul George struggled once again.  The all-star scored just 7 points on 2 for 9 shooting, and fouled out as he had trouble defending James all game.

The Pacers committed 21 turnovers, and the bench was near non-productive once more.  D.J. Augustin scored 2 points in 9 minutes, and Tyler Hansbrough finished with 6 points and 2 rebounds in 11 minutes.

 It Was Over When: The Pacers were down 39-32 with over 4 minutes left in the second quarter.  James scored on a lay-up, and David West was called for traveling on the ensuing possession, and all of a sudden the Heat closed out the first half on a 13-5 run to stretch the lead to 15 at halftime.  Indiana never got within single digits.

 Quote of the Night:  “By any means necessary … we took care of business.” –Lebron James

Box Score:

Indiana Pacers

STARTERS

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

37

6-15

0-0

2-3

3

3

6

1

0

2

6

4

-24

14

34

2-9

1-4

2-4

0

7

7

4

0

0

3

6

-14

7

38

7-11

0-0

4-5

2

6

8

1

1

0

3

5

-7

18

38

4-14

3-7

2-2

0

3

3

1

1

0

2

3

-14

13

39

4-8

2-4

0-0

1

5

6

5

2

0

2

1

-19

10

BENCH

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

11

2-2

0-0

2-2

1

1

2

0

0

0

1

2

+1

6

1

1-2

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

-2

2

5

0-1

0-1

0-0

0

1

1

1

0

0

1

0

-11

0

11

1-5

0-4

0-0

0

1

1

0

0

0

1

4

+2

2

9

0-0

0-0

0-2

1

0

1

0

0

0

2

2

-14

0

4

0-1

0-0

0-0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

1

+1

0

9

0-0

0-0

2-2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

-15

2

4

1-1

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

+1

2

TOTALS

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

PTS

Miami Heat

STARTERS

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

18

1-4

0-0

1-2

2

2

4

0

1

0

0

2

+3

3

41

8-17

1-2

15-16

2

6

8

4

2

1

2

1

+21

32

30

3-13

1-2

2-2

2

6

8

1

2

3

1

2

+17

9

28

3-8

0-2

1-2

0

2

2

1

0

0

0

5

+4

7

35

7-16

0-0

7-7

6

3

9

1

1

1

5

2

+17

21

BENCH

MIN

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

5

1-2

0-1

0-0

0

1

1

1

0

0

1

1

-2

2

17

1-3

0-0

5-6

2

3

5

0

1

0

0

2

+16

7

4

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

-1

0

4

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

-1

0

19

3-4

1-1

1-2

0

2

2

4

1

0

0

1

+17

8

21

3-6

3-5

1-1

1

2

3

1

0

0

1

3

+19

10

17

0-3

0-3

0-0

0

1

1

1

3

0

1

3

+5

0

TOTALS

FGM-A

3PM-A

FTM-A

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

PTS