Game Zero

I dozed off pretty much through the entire fourth quarter of the Pacers-Heat game seven tonight. That tells you all you need to know about this game seven. It was a big letdown. The pacers didn't really show up. They made this an interesting, intriguing, and competitive series until the start of game seven. Once the game started, the pacers we have been accustomed to seeing the last couple of weeks left the building. There is always the danger of this happening in game sevens with the road team. The pacers are a young, inexperienced team and these lights were too big for them. The pacers gave game one away and that's where they lost the series just like the warriors did against the Spurs. And, just like the warriors, the pacers did help prove my theory that if the series is tied after 2 games, the winner of game three takes the series. They pounded the heat with their size and toughness, but whenever the heat dialed up their intensity, pacers seemed to lack the firepower to keep up. The much-hyped game seven ended up being a lame precursor to the finals - a game zero of the finals if you will.

The Pacers need one more piece to take the next step. I like George Hill - first round picks of the San Antonio Spurs are usually no chopped liver, but they need a better point guard to manage this talented, big team. May be they can trade Danny Granger in a package and score a point guard in return. Granger is not bad either, but he is too similar to Paul George and Paul is way better. Part of me would like to see Granger back with this team with a more mature George and Hibbert, but I think they can use a point guard instead. I have full trust in Donnie Walsh, their president of basketball operations, to make the right call here. It will be an interesting off-season for the pacers. They are a legitimate contender now and am glad pro basketball is back in the hoosier state after a rough decade or so. Between the pacers and the bulls - if and when Derrick Rose returns, the Heat might have some serious threat next season. 

But first things first. Can anybody stop the heat this season? The pacers almost did it and that should give a big psychological boost to the spurs. The heat don't look anywhere near invincible and the big three has shrunk to big one all of a sudden. The "one" is definitely not a bad "one" to have, but I am really curious to see how coach Pop deals with the unstoppable LeBron James. I pick the spurs to figure this out and take this series in six. Heat don't do well against size - the pacers had size, and they don't well against speedy point guards - the spurs have Tony Parker. Duncan is not the same these days, but he is still the "big fundamental" and his size will bother the heat too. The spurs are going to be a handful for the heat and I both like and want the spurs to pull off the upset. For all the tumult the heat have been through the last three years and all the criticism LeBron and others had to endure, they have made it to three straight finals. Things are very much going according to plan for the big-3 though there is this collective public yearning for them to fail. But if they lose their second finals in three tries, it will be considered a failure.