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| Indiana Pacers center Ian Mahinmi (28) takes the ball down court as Miami Heat forward Chris Andersen, rear, recovers during the first half of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoff series Sunday, May 18, 2014, in Indianapolis. |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana is done talking about home-court advantage.
The top-seeded Pacers are ready to use it against the two-time defending champs.
They
took the first step Sunday, when Paul George finished with 24 points
and seven assists, David West added 19 points and seven rebounds, and
suddenly surging Indiana led wire-to-wire in a 107-96 victory over the
Miami Heat in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
"This is just a fun matchup," George said. "It's one that we've been waiting for all year."
For
the first time in this year's playoffs, the Pacers won a series opener.
And for the first time in their last three playoff battles against the
Heat, the Pacers won Game 1.
Game 2 is Tuesday
night. The home team has won all five games in this season's fiercest
and most competitive rivalry, though none was more impressive or
important than this one.
All five Indiana
starters and backup C.J. Watson scored in double figures, helping
Indiana produce its highest point total of the playoffs.
The
Pacers limited the Heat to just four offensive rebounds and 6-of-23
shooting from beyond the arc. LeBron James went 1 of 5 on 3s and shot
just two free throws, and Miami fell so far behind so fast, it never
even had a chance to tie the score.
Sure,
opening this best-of-seven series at Bankers Life Fieldhouse helped. The
hometown crowd that sometimes serenaded the Pacers with boos during the
first two rounds spent most of the first half on its feet, chanted
"De-fense" every time it looked as if the Heat might come back and
finished the game with its customary chant of "Beat The Heat!"
But the biggest difference was on the court.
Indiana
shared the ball, limited its turnovers, maintained its poise and got
contributions from everyone in a game it had to win. Roy Hibbert
finished with 19 points and nine rebounds, Lance Stephenson had 17
points and eight assists, and George Hill added 15 points as the Pacers
looked more like the team that was so dominant over the first half of
the season, rather than the one struggled so mightily in the second
half.
The challengers in this matchup insist they know it's only a start.
"There's
nothing to celebrate. It's not like we won a championship. It's one
game," Hill said. "Yes, it was good, but if we come out and lay an egg
on Tuesday, this game doesn't mean anything."
The toughest part for the Heat will be figuring out what went wrong.
Coach
Erik Spoelstra used Shane Battier in the starting lineup, then replaced
him with Udonis Haslem after the Pacers took a 55-45 halftime lead. It
made no difference.
James, who had 25 points,
10 rebounds and five assists, and Dwyane Wade, who had 27 points on
12-of-18 shooting, desperately tried to rally the Heat but got little
help. Chris Bosh had nine points and two rebounds. Ray Allen finished
with 12 points.
While Bosh thought the primary problem was Miami's inability to get stops, James wasn't as sure.
"The
game's still so fresh. It's too hard to just say, `Well, we need to do
this better in Game 2,'" James said after the Heat lost for just the
second time in 10 playoff games. "We need to evaluate our mistakes and
things we did in Game 1 first before I can say what we need to bring to
Game 2."
Clearly, the Pacers weren't the same
team that spent most of the last three months answering questions about
their second-half swoon.
Indiana swarmed the
glass, exploited its size advantage, knocked down six of its first seven
3-pointers and forced the Heat into playing catch-up.
When
the Heat cut a 10-point, first-quarter deficit to 41-37 midway through
the second quarter, Stephenson scored four points in a 5-0 run to make
it 46-37. When James trimmed it to 50-45 with back-to-back baskets late
in the quarter, the Pacers ended the half with five straight points to
make it 55-45.
Hibbert and West then combined eight of Indiana's first 14 points to open the second half, pushing the lead to 69-52.
James and Wade rallied the Heat within 83-74 early in the fourth, but the Pacers opened it up again to 102-84 with 4:11 to go.
Now comes the hard part - doing it all over again Tuesday night.
"We've
been complacent many times. We just can't get complacent," George said.
"We've got to stay humbled off this win and come in with the same
mind-set that we have to get another one."
Notes:
Miami has lost six straight series openers on the road. ... The last
two games these teams have played were both decided by double digits.
... Former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Carl Erskine opened the series by
playing the National Anthem on his harmonica.
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