The Indiana Pacers aren’t scared by the Miami Heat.
If you’re surprised by Indiana’s fearlessness, you’re clearly not familiar with Frank Vogel. He has a knack for instilling confidence in his players. It’s a grossly underrated quality of his outside of Indiana.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, however, the entire country is finally getting a glimpse into what he and the Pacers can do; into how confident they actually are.
Indiana stole Game 2 in Miami and then, down 2-1, stole Game 4 at home. Each of those games had the potential to put them in an insurmountable hole. You don’t want to be down 2-0 or 3-1 against the Heat. You just don’t.
Vogel’s band of physical athletes continued to fight, though. They didn’t quit. Especially in Game 4. The Heat kept storming back every time the Pacers built a lead, but the Pacers kept building leads. They weren’t intimidated by LeBron James or Dwyane Wade or anyone else. Nor will they ever be.
“We’re confident but we know we have to be great to beat this basketball team,” Vogel said following his team’s Game 4 victory (via Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star). “This team is unbelievable, how they execute, how they share the basketball, how they space you out, how they guard. It’s just as complete an opponent as we’ll ever face. But we are confident that we can rise to the challenge. When we’re at our best, we know we can compete with them and we’re going to have to play great basketball to win Game 5.”
His postgame sentiments can be construed as both arrogant and humble. He dared to say the Pacers could contend with anyone, the Heat included, but he also acknowledged just how dominant a team Miami is. That’s what he always does. And it’s what he has to continue doing if the Pacers wish to pull off what was initially considered an improbable upset.
The Pacers have been here before, within striking distance, just a season ago. They were up 2-1 against the Heat in the second round of the NBA playoffs just last year, before squandering that lead and being sent home. Now, here they are again. It’s a different stage—the Eastern Conference Finals—and the stakes are higher—the NBA Finals—but the end goal remains the same: Beat the Heat.
Can they actually supersede the reigning NBA champions? Can the Pacers defeat the closest thing to unbeatable the NBA has to offer?
Vogel has them believing they can.
“We’re mentally tough,” Roy Hibbert said. “Not one guy in that locker room didn’t believe we were going to win this game tonight. We showed fortitude and we picked each other up. We never held our heads down.”
Those heads must continue to be held high if Indiana wishes to reach the NBA Finals. The Pacers have done a great job forcing the Heat to play physical basketball, which isn’t Miami’s forte. Indiana has crushed South Beach on the glass (49-30 in Game 4) and limited the Heat’s effectiveness from downtown (33.8 percent for the series).
Still, few expect the Pacers to be able to finish this thing out. This is the Heat we’re talking about, after all. No one beats them in the playoffs. Not since the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, and that seems like ages. Miami is going to get two more victories, whether it take a full seven-game series or not—unless Indiana has anything to say about it.
“We know we’re going to be fighting an uphill battle,” Hibbert admitted. “We’re never going to give up. We’re relentless. All those guys in there, they believe we can win.
If the Pacers keep this up, those next two victories won’t come easy for the Heat. They may not even come at all.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
