If you heard Carlisle's post game press conference after the game he was emphatic about explaining the circumtances of how the pacrs have beaten the Heat 3 times. game 1 the Heat missed 18 free throws. Game #2 Shaq did not play. game #3 Heat missed a ton of free throws and were without Eddie.
So what do you think do the Pacers matchup well with the Heat. I tend to agree with Rick, 3 OT games, and the Pacers played 3 of their best defensive games of the season.
Here is an interesting Heat beat writer perspective
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/s...a-sports-front
Heat suffer another flameout in Indiana
Pacers' 12-0 run in OT snuffs out Heat
By Ira Winderman
Staff Writer
Posted April 1 2005
INDIANAPOLIS -- If the playoffs start here for the Heat, there has to be legitimate concern that they also could end here.
Unable to figure out the Pacers even with Indiana lacking ailing Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley and suspended Ron Artest, the Heat fell Thursday night for the third time in as many meetings this season.
With guard Reggie Miller hardly acting his 39 years and forward Stephen Jackson forcing the game into overtime, the Pacers escaped with a 114-108 victory at Conseco Fieldhouse.
While the Heat could point to the injury absence of forward Eddie Jones, this nonetheless was an unsettling result.
Playing overtime for the third time in as many meetings, the Heat's regular-season losing streak to the Pacers reached 12.
"When a team wins 12 in a row against you, you can't make excuses about it," said Heat coach Stan Van Gundy, who nonetheless pointed to the Pacers' 11-of-25 3-point shooting. "We deserved what happened against us."
While the Heat remains on the verge of clinching the No. 1 overall playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, the concern is that Indiana could be the opening-round adversary.
Unlike in last year's Eastern Conference semifinals, the Pacers would be the road team. Still, this has become about more than seedings.
Instead, an air of superiority continues. Suddenly, these Pacers are becoming the next-generation Knicks for the Heat when it comes to tormentors. Counting last season's playoffs, the Heat has not won at Conseco since 2001.
"They really play their best ball against us," said guard Dwyane Wade, who led the Heat with 37 points. "But we'll take any team in a seven-game series."
Down 92-86 with 1:43 to play in the fourth quarter, the Pacers tied it on 3-pointers from guard Anthony Johnson and Jackson, with Jackson's conversion coming with two-tenths of a second to play in regulation off an offensive rebound from center Dale Davis.
A similar pattern by Johnson and Jackson helped lift Indiana in the extra period.
Still, this was about more than Jackson's 29 points and Johnson's 16.
It was about more than Wade fighting through knee pain to make three 3-pointers in a valiant fight after converting only eight previously this season.
And it was about more than Heat center Shaquille O'Neal finishing with 24 points and 13 rebounds or Heat guard Damon Jones closing with 27 points by shooting 5 of 5 on 3-pointers.
No, this was about Miller tormenting the Heat with 31 points, including eight in the extra period, his fifth 30-point game of the season.
"Reggie Miller? I don't know what there's left to be said about this guy that hasn't already been said," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "What he's doing right now, it's stuff that legends are made of."
Miller, who plans to retire at season's end, entered averaging 20.1 points over his previous 11 games, leading Indiana to 7-4 record over that span.
With 10.2 seconds to play in regulation, Wade hit a long jumper to stake the Heat to a 94-91 lead. In any other building, in any other series, that should have been enough.
Not here, not against the Pacers.
"It would be ridiculous to say we have some secret formula to beat these guys," Carlisle said. "We do not."
Miller agreed.
"It's a good matchup for us," he said. "But in a series, I wouldn't count on anything because they've got two fabulous players in Shaq and Dwyane. I don't know. We've just been lucky."
After bruising his right knee in Tuesday's victory over Toronto, Wade waited until the pre-game warm-ups to decide he was fit.
The only other teams to beat the Heat more than once this season are Seattle and Dallas. The Heat also faces the Pacers on the regular season's final weekend.
The Heat entered having lost two in a row on the road, at Houston and Charlotte. It now has its first three-game, road-losing streak of the season.
Ira Winderman can be reached at iwinderman@sun-sentinel.com.
So what do you think do the Pacers matchup well with the Heat. I tend to agree with Rick, 3 OT games, and the Pacers played 3 of their best defensive games of the season.
Here is an interesting Heat beat writer perspective
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/s...a-sports-front
Heat suffer another flameout in Indiana
Pacers' 12-0 run in OT snuffs out Heat
By Ira Winderman
Staff Writer
Posted April 1 2005
INDIANAPOLIS -- If the playoffs start here for the Heat, there has to be legitimate concern that they also could end here.
Unable to figure out the Pacers even with Indiana lacking ailing Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley and suspended Ron Artest, the Heat fell Thursday night for the third time in as many meetings this season.
With guard Reggie Miller hardly acting his 39 years and forward Stephen Jackson forcing the game into overtime, the Pacers escaped with a 114-108 victory at Conseco Fieldhouse.
While the Heat could point to the injury absence of forward Eddie Jones, this nonetheless was an unsettling result.
Playing overtime for the third time in as many meetings, the Heat's regular-season losing streak to the Pacers reached 12.
"When a team wins 12 in a row against you, you can't make excuses about it," said Heat coach Stan Van Gundy, who nonetheless pointed to the Pacers' 11-of-25 3-point shooting. "We deserved what happened against us."
While the Heat remains on the verge of clinching the No. 1 overall playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, the concern is that Indiana could be the opening-round adversary.
Unlike in last year's Eastern Conference semifinals, the Pacers would be the road team. Still, this has become about more than seedings.
Instead, an air of superiority continues. Suddenly, these Pacers are becoming the next-generation Knicks for the Heat when it comes to tormentors. Counting last season's playoffs, the Heat has not won at Conseco since 2001.
"They really play their best ball against us," said guard Dwyane Wade, who led the Heat with 37 points. "But we'll take any team in a seven-game series."
Down 92-86 with 1:43 to play in the fourth quarter, the Pacers tied it on 3-pointers from guard Anthony Johnson and Jackson, with Jackson's conversion coming with two-tenths of a second to play in regulation off an offensive rebound from center Dale Davis.
A similar pattern by Johnson and Jackson helped lift Indiana in the extra period.
Still, this was about more than Jackson's 29 points and Johnson's 16.
It was about more than Wade fighting through knee pain to make three 3-pointers in a valiant fight after converting only eight previously this season.
And it was about more than Heat center Shaquille O'Neal finishing with 24 points and 13 rebounds or Heat guard Damon Jones closing with 27 points by shooting 5 of 5 on 3-pointers.
No, this was about Miller tormenting the Heat with 31 points, including eight in the extra period, his fifth 30-point game of the season.
"Reggie Miller? I don't know what there's left to be said about this guy that hasn't already been said," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "What he's doing right now, it's stuff that legends are made of."
Miller, who plans to retire at season's end, entered averaging 20.1 points over his previous 11 games, leading Indiana to 7-4 record over that span.
With 10.2 seconds to play in regulation, Wade hit a long jumper to stake the Heat to a 94-91 lead. In any other building, in any other series, that should have been enough.
Not here, not against the Pacers.
"It would be ridiculous to say we have some secret formula to beat these guys," Carlisle said. "We do not."
Miller agreed.
"It's a good matchup for us," he said. "But in a series, I wouldn't count on anything because they've got two fabulous players in Shaq and Dwyane. I don't know. We've just been lucky."
After bruising his right knee in Tuesday's victory over Toronto, Wade waited until the pre-game warm-ups to decide he was fit.
The only other teams to beat the Heat more than once this season are Seattle and Dallas. The Heat also faces the Pacers on the regular season's final weekend.
The Heat entered having lost two in a row on the road, at Houston and Charlotte. It now has its first three-game, road-losing streak of the season.
Ira Winderman can be reached at iwinderman@sun-sentinel.com.
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