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Indiana looks to even series with Heat Tuesday
By: Staff Writer - StatFox
Published: 5/28/2013  at  3:45:00 AM
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MIAMI HEAT

at INDIANA PACERS

Eastern Conference Finals
Game 4 - Miami leads series 2-1
Tip-off: Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. ET
Line: Miami -2.5, Total: 184.5

The Pacers will look to even up their Eastern Conference Finals series with a win at home over the Heat on Tuesday night.

Miami responded to a Game 2 home loss with a 114-96 blowout victory over Indiana at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sunday night. This was a lopsided game from the opening tip, as every single member of the Heat starting lineup scored at least 14 points on the night, as they outshot their opponent 54.5% FG to 39.7% FG. They also made 24-of-28 free throws and committed just five turnovers. Sunday marked the Pacers' first home loss this postseason (6-1 SU and ATS), but Miami will like its chances again on the road Game 4. The Heat are a strong 34-12 SU and 29-17 ATS (63%) on the road this season, including a perfect 5-0 mark (SU and ATS) on the road, winning these games by 13, 11, 10, 23 and 18 points. It also helps to have SF LeBron James, who has been unbelievable so far in this postseason, averaging 25.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 6.8 APG in 40.7 MPG. However, Indiana is not prone to losing skids, going 24-13 ATS (65%) after an SU loss this season.

Can the Pacers tie up this series again on Tuesday? For the answer, connect to NBA Playoffs Best Bets for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2013 postseason. For NBA Playoff Best Bets, StatFox Gary is 67% ATS (6-3) since May 9 and 53.3% ATS (16-14) for the entire playoffs, while Brian is 60% ATS (9-6) since May 9 and 54% ATS (21-18) for the postseason, and Dave is a perfect 3-0 ATS since May 6 and 53.3% ATS (8-7) for the playoffs. Gary is also 70% ATS (7-3) since May 16 in all postseason picks, while Dave is a perfect 3-0 ATS in the past three nights and Brian is 53.3% ATS (16-14) since May 4. For NBA Totals, Scott is a hefty 75% (12-4) since May 6, to increase his postseason Totals mark to 61% (17-11-2), while Gary is also a stellar 63% (17-10-1) on all playoff Totals.

Miami looked sluggish in the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, but it came out and played their best game of the entire playoffs in Game 3. SF LeBron James led Miami in scoring on the night with 22 points (8-of-17 FG) and a +22 rating in 41 minutes, but added just four rebounds and three assists. SG Dwyane Wade finished the contest with 18 points (8-of-14 FG), eight assists, four rebounds and two blocks in 35 minutes. The third member of the All-Star trio, PF Chris Bosh, played just 24 minutes but although he scored 15 points (6-of-10 FG, 2-of-3 threes), Bosh pulled down just three rebounds and posted a minus-3 rating. An unexpected source of offense, PF Udonis Haslem, also helped this team establish a big lead, scoring a playoff-high 17 points (8-of-9 FG) while also grabbing seven rebounds in just 23 minutes of play. PG Mario Chalmers also had his best scoring game of the postseason with 14 points on 4-of-6 FG and 6-of-7 free throws. PF Chris Andersen kept up his unbelievable playoff run by pulling down a postseason-high nine boards, while making all four of his shots. This was his fourth straight perfect shooting night, as he's made 15-of-15 field-goal attempts during this impressive streak. For the entire postseason, Andersen is 35-for-41 from the floor (85.4%). If the Heat continue to get production like this from the entire roster, it will be nearly impossible to beat them.

After stealing Game 2 in Miami, the Pacers came out flat defensively in Game 3 in what was an embarrassing effort on that side of the ball for Frank Vogel’s squad. The Heat were getting open looks whenever they pleased and Indiana had trouble adjusting. Offensively, the Pacers' starting lineup fared just fine. PF David West had a team-high 21 points (8-of-16 FG) and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes of play, displaying the same combination of force and soft touch he has all throughout this series, where he's averaged 20.0 PPG on 50% shooting. C Roy Hibbert has also been doing the heavy lifting for the Pacers, averaging 22.7 PPG and 12.0 RPG in 39.0 MPG in this series. Hibbert ripped down 17 rebounds (7 offensive), blocked two shots and got to the free throw line 15 times on Sunday (connecting on 12), finishing with 20 points despite a woeful 4-of-12 shooting and minus-16 rating. SF Paul George had a dreadful game with a minus-17 rating. He was struggling to find his shot from inside the paint as he connected on just 1-of-6 shots from inside the arc (2-of-4 threes), grabbed a mere two rebounds for the second straight game, and committed five turnovers. The one positive was George's team-best eight assists. PG George Hill scored 19 points (5-of-10 FG, 3-of-3 threes, 6-of-7 FT) in 37 minutes for the Pacers, but he must do a better job of setting up his teammates as he had only two assists in the game. SG Lance Stephenson must also find his shot in this series as he really struggled, scoring only seven points (2-of-10 FG) in 34 minutes in Game 3. For the series, Stephenson has made just 25% of his shots (8-for-32 FG), including an unexplainable 4-of-18 (22%) on two-point field goal tries.


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