Alright.  Time to talk Heat-Pacers game 5.

  I'm gonna start by stating the obvious; this was a beatdown, both score wise and physically.  As much as I want to hate on the Pacers, the fact is they are a good basketball team, something I refused to believe before watching them this series.  They had the 5th best record in the NBA this year, yet most people don't really know about them because they played ONE game in prime time television this year.  Thats what comes when you play in a small market city.  But to continue with the Pacers.  They have depth, a solid frontcourt, and a couple of good young players.  I think Hibbert and Collison will only get better as well in the coming years.  This is going to be a team that competes in the eastern conference for awhile.  The only complaint I have against them is Paul George and George Hill look alike and have a name in common; thats too confusing for a team that isn't in the spotlight as it is.

Everyone expected the Heat to win this series, possibly in 4 games.  Even when Bosh went out with an abdominal strain (are you serious Bosh? do some crunches, you are a professional athlete) most experts picked the Heat to win in 5 games.  However, the Pacers could have won game 1 if not for some biased officiating, stole game 2 on the road, and blew the heat out in game 3, due to D-Wade having one of his worst playoff games ever.  They looked to be in total control of the series.

Fast forward to late Tuesday night, and you have the Heat up 3 games to 2, heading back to Indiana for game 6. How did this happen you may ask?  There are a couple of reasons.

1. "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." This is a quote from Japanese admiral Yamamoto about the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  This equally applies to the Heat.  The Pacers saw the Heat as bullies, and came into the series with the mindset as such; if you stand up to a bully and push back, they will stop being bullies.  Ranging from Frank Vogel's comments on flopping, to Danny Granger's attempts to get under Bron and D wades skin, the Pacers attitude was that they were a tough team that didn't take any crap.  This came to a tipping point in the game 3 blowout when super-scrub Lance Stephenson (1 minute of playing time in the Heat series) made a choking sign when LeBron couldn't knock down free throws.  This definitely pissed LeBron off, and the rest of the team and they finally decided they didn't want to put up with any more shit from the Pacers.

2. LeBron/Dwade
For all of LeBron's late game choking, there is no denying the fact that he has been magnificent during these playoffs averaging 29 points, 6 assists, and 9 rebounds per game.  This is expected of a 3 time MVP.  If only he could shoot 3's and maybe get some clutch genes from Robert Horry, who knows how good he could be. 
Dwade: This is night and day.  Wade was flat out terrible in the first 3 games, there is no other way to put it.  I think he realized how badly he was playing and it really pissed him off, because he started to play like the Flash of old in games 4 and 5. 
Here are some of their combined stats: 70 points combined in game 4, 58 in game 5.  That is 128 points in two games.  They scored their 58 points at an astonishing 61% shooting from the field (22/36), and the Heat as a team copied them, shooting 61% from the field as a whole.

3. The Heat Bench

They are finally stepping up, with Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers, and Udonis Haslem filling some of the scoring void now that Bosh is out.  Haslem is most likely out for game 6 due to his flagrant foul on pyscho T.

4. Bad Luck/Foul Trouble
The Pacers are a complete team, which is a great recipe for success, but only when the team members function as they should.  With Granger and West leaving the game early due to injury, the Pacers just got an ass-kicking.  Also, with Roy Hibbert in foul trouble, it was much easier for the Heat to score.  The combination of the Pacers being physical and being in the top 10 in the league in fouls committed, is bad enough, but when you mix that with LeBron's and Wade's ability to get to the line, it becomes even harder for an outmatched team to compete.

Now lets talk about what went on in the game.  There has been much ado about the physical play of game 5, and rightly so.  Haslem, Pittman, and Hasbrough all got flagrant 1 foul calls.  Hansbrough should not have gotten a flagrant, and Haslem and Pittman should have gotten a flagrant 2 each and been ejected immediately.  I understand the need to protect your superstars, but come on.  The Wade situation is different because Haslem went after Hansbrough less then 2 minutes after Wade got clobbered; however his foul could end up costing him a game and perhaps even the Heat a game as he has been crucial to their recent success. 

The Pittman foul is a whole different story.  When it was scrub time in the 4th quarter, Pittman delivered a vicious elbow to the neck of Stephenson, which potentially could have been really bad.  There is no need for that.  Especially when you account for the fact that the Heat were up by 30 and that two super-scrubs were playing.  I did think it was hilarious that Pittman winked though, he is going to have a hard time making up an excuse for that.

SIR CHUCK!

Charles Barkley is a riot.  He overstates the obvious and is retarded yet hilarious.  And give the man some credit, he is entertaining, and won an emmy this year.  However, seconds after bashing repeatedly on the Heat for their dirty play, Chuck went on to say that he "kicked players in the balls if they tried to draw a charge on him".  Even Kenny the Jet told him that was ridiculous, but Charles was unapologetic.  Sorry Chuck, but kicking someone in the balls for trying to take a charge is worse to me then Haslem trying to protect one of his superstars with a hard foul.  Anyways, watch this knucklehead every time you get the chance, he is television gold.

Game 6 prediction:
Heat89-Pacers80