Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter VI Mobile College Basketball March Mayhem Picks College Basketball March Mayhem Picks VegasInsider.com VegasInsider.com
Handicapper Bios Sports Picks Free Odds Contests Sportsbook
Sports Betting Home NFL NBANHLMLBNCAA FBNCAA BKGolfAutoHorsesBoxingVI More Sports
 
NBA Scores Matchups Teams Standings Schedules Injuries News
 
 · Latest News
 · Player Updates
 · Transactions
Buy Picks Vegas Odds
 
 · Vegas Odds
 · Offshore Odds
 · Future Odds
 
Preview: Heat (66-16) at Pacers (49-32)
BT Movements  ·  Line Movements
Date: May 17, 2012 7:00 PM EDT
  

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were not carrying ``Help Wanted' signs around the Miami Heat practice floor on Wednesday. The mood was not grim, voices were not hushed and scowls were not prominent.

The way the Heat see it, their series with Indiana begins anew Thursday night. And the Pacers sound like they agree.

Indiana will play host to Miami in Game 3, after grabbing home-court advantage away from the reigning East champs with a 78-75 win Tuesday in perhaps the most offensively baffling night in Heat history - when, for the first time in the franchise's 24 years of existence, only two players scored more than five points in a game.

Advertisement

Just about everyone wearing Heat colors struggled, and James and Wade both misfired on key chances in the final moments.

The Pacers were hardly scoring juggernauts either. Still, Indiana was good enough to knot the series, and head home with even more confidence than the ample amount they brought to the start of the matchup.

``Our goal is not to come in here and try to put up a good fight or whatever,' Pacers forward David West said in Indianapolis on Wednesday. ``We're trying to win the series. We're competing to win the series.'

The Pacers got everything they wanted in Game 2.

Instead of the get-out-and-go style that the Heat prefer, Indiana turned Tuesday's matchup into more of the ground-and-pound variety. Pacers coach Frank Vogel calls it smash-mouth basketball, and others may just call it plain old ugly. But it suits Indiana just fine, and unless Miami gets at least one win on the Pacers' floor, Vogel's team will pull off something that few people might have thought possible.

``We've got to keep our edge,' Vogel said. ``We understand that we feel good about who we are as a basketball team and that we can win this series. But that means nothing. We've got to do it in between the lines.'

James had 28 points in Game 2, Wade had 24. The rest of the Heat had 23, the offense sorely missing Bosh, who's out indefinitely - the rest of this series is all but certain - with a strained abdominal muscle.

``We're confident and we're looking forward to the challenge,' Heat forward Udonis Haslem said. ``We can do it. We know we can do it. But it's not going to be easy. So we've got to go in there, we've got to be armored-up and we've got to be ready to go.'

Miami missed all but one of its 16 tries from 3-point range, is 1 for 22 from deep in the series, and lost for the first time in its last 14 playoff games at home against East opponents.

So now, the Heat will have to advance the difficult way.

``It's going to be fun,' said James, the three-time NBA MVP who's averaged 28.2 points on the road in playoff games in his career, the best mark of any active player. ``It's what the playoffs are all about. At the end of the day, you've got to try to win on somebody else's floor. And we look forward to going up there.'

James wore one of the ``MVP' headbands the Heat gave out in his honor to fans at Game 1 during Wednesday's practice, Wade answered light-hearted questions about his fashion sense and why gaudy eyeglass frames are all the rage across the league these days, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra sounded far from downtrodden when talking about what he saw on the tape of Game 2.

In short, the Heat insist they're not panicking after one loss, even though it brought back memories of playoff failures from a year ago.

It was Miami's lowest scoring total at home in the ``Big Three' era, and down the stretch the Heat just couldn't get a point. In Miami's final seven possessions, James took only one shot, getting blocked by Paul George. He passed the ball twice on the play where a layup try from Wade hit the rim with 16 seconds remaining.

He had an assist on one possession, missed two big free throws on another with 54.3 seconds left, and did not get a touch on three of those trips.

``At the end of the day, I was satisfied with my performance and trying to help us win a ball game,' James said. ``That's all that matters.'

Miami said it was satisfied with the shots it got in Game 2, even though everyone not named Wade or James shot a combined 9 for 34. There will be some tweaking of things before Thursday night, but the tape told Spoelstra that there were parts of Game 2 where things went Miami's way - sans for the not-so-small measure of the ball going in the basket.

``You've got a 2 seed playing against a 3 seed,' Spoelstra said. ``That's historically one of the more competitive battles over the years. And that's the way it should be. We had the fourth-best record (in the league), they had the fifth-best record.

``Nothing is going to come easy for either team. You look at it, both teams are shooting under 40 percent.'

Which is why the Pacers say they need to get better as well.

``You never want to get too low after a loss or too high after a win,' Indiana's Danny Granger said. ``We played a good game, but we need to make a lot of improvements on offense and defense.'

---

Follow Tim Reynolds on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ByTimReynolds

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2013
The Associated Press
All Rights Reserved

 SERIES AT A GLANCE
GAME 1
Pacers at Heat
Sun, May 13 Final 86 to 95
 Recaps
GAME 2
Pacers at Heat
Tue, May 15 Final 78 to 75
 Recaps
GAME 3
Heat at Pacers
Thu, May 17 Final 75 to 94
 Recaps
GAME 4
Heat at Pacers
Sun, May 20 Final 101 to 93
 Recaps
GAME 5
Pacers at Heat
Tue, May 22 Final 83 to 115
 Recaps
GAME 6
Heat at Pacers
Thu, May 24 Final 105 to 93
 Recaps

 CURRENT LAS VEGAS LINE
 Team  ML   SPR   O/U 
 MIA  -140   -2.5   180.5 
 IND  +120   +2.5   
LAS VEGAS LINE MOVEMENTS

 CURRENT SPORTSBOOK LINE
 Team  ML   SPR   O/U 
 MIA  -140   -2.5   180.5 
 IND  +120   +2.5   
OFFSHORE LINE MOVEMENTS

 BETTING TRENDS
 Team  ML   SPR   O/U 
 MIA  59%   71%   58% 
 IND  41%   29%   42% 
BT MOVEMENTS

 NBA HEAD TO HEAD
 May 15, 2012  Score  ATS Results 
  IND « 78 Cover: 9.5 
  MIA 75 Under: 153 
 Tools:   Recaps
 May 13, 2012  Score  ATS Results 
  IND 86 Under: 181 
  MIA « 95 Cover: 0.5 
 Tools:   Recaps
 Mar 26, 2012  Score  ATS Results 
  MIA 90 Over: 195 
  IND « 105 Cover: 18.5 
 Tools:   Recaps

 NBA PREVIEWS
 Thursday, May 17
 
  •  Heat at Pacers
7:05 PM EDT
  •  Clippers at Spurs
9:35 PM EDT
 
 
 
  
GOLD Membership
Over 150 Member Plays free each month. Signup Today!
 
 

NFL
NFL Sports Picks
NFL Vegas Odds
NFL Online Odds
NFL Matchups
NFL Scores

More Sports
Golf
Auto Racing
Horse Racing
Boxing
WNBA

MLB
MLB Sports Picks
MLB Vegas Odds
MLB Online Odds
MLB Matchups
MLB Scores

Features
Free Odds
Contests
Newsletters
VI Radio
Las Vegas Travel
Follow us on Twitter
Add us on Google+
Join us on Facebook

NBA
NBA Sports Picks
NBA Vegas Odds
NBA Online Odds
NBA Matchups
NBA Scores

Sports Betting Tools
Live Odds
Mobile Odds
Parlay Calculator
Gaming Terms
TV Listings
Handicapping Records
Sports Betting
About Sports Betting
Sportsbook Reviews

NHL
NHL Sports Picks
NHL Vegas Odds
NHL Online Odds
NHL Matchups
NHL Scores

VegasInsider Info
About Us
Help Center
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Refund Policy
Contact Us
User Feedback

College Football
NCAA FB Sports Picks
NCAA FB Vegas Odds
NCAA FB Online Odds
NCAA FB Matchups
NCAA FB Scores

Sportsbooks
CarbonSports · Review
SportBet · Review
Sportsbook · Review
TopBet.eu · Review

College Basketball
NCAA BK Sports Picks
NCAA BK Vegas Odds
NCAA BK Online Odds
NCAA BK Matchups
NCAA BK Scores

Rotation Schedules
Baseball: Mar 31 - June 02

Copyright © 1997-2013, VegasInsider.com Inc., The Global Leader In Sports Gaming Information. All rights reserved.
For questions or comments, please contact us at 1-800-211-4759.