Pacer vs Heat

I have never really been a fan of the NBA. When Seattle still had a team I would watch the occasional game and I almost always watched their playoff series. Once the team left it was difficult for me to get interested. Last years Eastern Conference Finals was an exception. After just happening to turn on game 5 of that series, I was hooked. The Pacers defensive intensity and the Heat's having Lebron James on the roster, made it a blast to watch.

Going into the 2013 season, I had my usual level of disinterest. But then, Yahoo reminded me of the upcoming Heat vs Pacers regular season rematches.This piqued my interest. Would Lebron be able to overcome the pressure defense of Paul George, Roy Hibbert, David West and company? Would a single star driven team (the Heat) or the chemistry and teamwork driven team (the Pacers) prevail?

The thing is about this matchup, I still havent decided which of the two teams to root for. The Pacers appeal to me as the underdog and the small market team. They built a team from homegrown players. Starters Hibbert, George and Lance Stephenson were all drafted by the team. Their biggest strength is defense. Roy Hibbert, Paul George, Ian Mahinmi and David West are in the NBA top 10 in DRtg. They are basically the anti-Heat.

The Heat built their team by signing Lebron James, possibly the best player of all time and definitely the best of his generation. They then complimented him by signing Chris Bosh, a skilled power forward and keeping homegrown star Dwyane Wade. Their whole game is based around three really great players playing at an amazingly high level of play. Watching King James play basketball is mesmerizing.

Unfortunately the first contest wasn't shown nationally, so I missed it. But, apparently, the game lived up to the hype. Trailing by seven at half time, the Pacers battled back, took the lead in the fourth quarter and won the game. The Pacers did there team thing with their starters scoring 64 of the 84 points the team scored. On the Heat side, Lebron James scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, living up to his star billing. Sure sounds fun to watch.

I am really looking forward to the next game on Dec 18th. This time the Pacers travel to Miami. If this isn't on regular TV, I will probably go find a bar somewhere because these games are must see TV.



Sources: Yahoo Sports; Basketball-Reference.com