Heat-Pacers: Miami Looks to Continue Scorching Play Against Pacers

There’s no questioning the fact the Miami Heat started out red-hot this season with a 115-93 victory over the New York Knicks. In that game, Miami fully lived up to their team moniker, shooting a scorching 14-of-17 from the field in the second quarter, and following that up with a nearly as impressive 14-of-21 shooting performance in the third.

Simply put, Miami was clicking on all cylinders, with four of Miami’s starters in double figures, and three with 20-plus points in the game, including Dwyane Wade’s game-high 26 on 10-of-22 shooting to go along with his five rebounds, five assists, and two steals in 36:22 minutes of play.

The Heat had entered the game with the Knicks with a multitude of questions surrounding them. Udonis Haslem had been relegated to the bench just the day before the game in favor of starting Michael Beasley at the power forward position (his natural spot), rather than trying to force a square peg into a round hole, so to speak, and put “Beas” at the small forward position, as many felt Heat head coach Eric Spoelstra was about to do.

Haslem, being the calm, veteran presence he is and has been on the team, never even blinked an eye at the call, and his game will certainly be one that will benefit the second unit when they’re called on to act for the Heat. His ferocity will give that unit the intensity they need to pour it on when the starters take their much-needed breaks.

There were also questions surrounding Quentin Richardson, recently acquired over the offseason from the Timberwolves, where he’s floundered after leaving the Knicks. Many believed that despite D-Wade’s confidence in his friend, he simply wasn’t up to the task of starting for the Heat, and would prove lackluster in his performance.

Mario Chalmers also had some doubters, having played poorly in the last two exhibition matches Miami played. Some were even questioning whether the recent addition of point guard Carlos Arroyo would put even more pressure on coach “Spo” to bench the talented, but often undisciplined Chalmers in favor of starting the less talented, but far more experienced veteran guard in Arroyo.

While those questions haven’t fully been answered (no one game will ever illuminate whether such deep-seeded problems have been solved), the decibel level of those asking them has assuredly gone down a few notches.

Tonight’s matchup of the Heat with the Indiana Pacers will provide another test of whether the concerns raised by many writers, bloggers, and fans during the offseason, and throughout the preseason, about all of these players and the rest of the Heat are answered, or whether they’re still unresolved.

One thing that might cool off the Heat a bit is the fact that, unlike the game against the Knicks, in which Miami played in the comfortable confines of American Airlines Arena, the game against the Pacers will be played in the hostile environment of Conseco Fieldhouse.

Playing there has not been kind to Miami. The Heat hasn’t won a game there since they beat the Pacers 89-87 on December 21, 2001, and is 5-34 all-time at Indiana. Looking to avoid their 15th straight road loss to the Pacers, the Heat will look for more of what we saw in the game against the Knicks (where five members of the Heat scored in double figures overall), with Dwyane Wade leading a balanced charge.

Former Pacer and current Heat center Jermaine O’Neal anticipates getting another shot at the team that let him go. Although he’s only averaged 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in three games against Indiana since leaving the team, O’Neal feels he shouldn’t have much of a problem competing at a higher level without the knee issues or other problems that hindered his play in the past.

“This is the first time in two-and-a-half, three years where I feel real good; the body is responding great, my movements are great, no knee braces. I’ve really looked forward to this,” he said. “I’m pretty sure they’ll get a heavy dosage of me.”

O’Neal, facing the team he played eight years for before being traded to Toronto before the 2007-08 season, relishes the opportunity to face his former teammates for the first time with a healthy body. Although he averaged only 13.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in 27 games after being traded to Miami from the Raptors on Feb. 13, his game against the Knicks, where he had 22 points and 12 rebounds, might be indicative that his former teammates will be seeing the guy they’re more familiar with, rather than the injury-riddled player they’d watched on TV since he left.

During his eight seasons with Indiana, O’Neal was considered one of the best players in the NBA, with some believing he was on track for a Hall of Fame career. Injuries have quieted such prognostications, but there’s no doubt that a healthy Jermaine can still play at a level few big men in the NBA can.

Hopefully he’ll show that again tonight, and help his team to another win. Hopefully he’ll also be joined by another sparkling performance from second-year forward Michael Beasley. Beasley, or “Beas,” as he’s known to some of his teammates and fans, was spectacular in the game against the Knicks, adding 21 points to the Heat total while shooting a blistering 56.6 percent from the field.

They’ll be facing an Indiana squad who, while they lost their first game of the season on the road against the Atlanta Hawks, will bring plenty of talent, including All-Star forward Danny Granger, who averaged a career-high 25.8 points per game last year. He’ll be joined in the front court by Troy Murphy, who averaged a respectable 14.3 PPG and 11.8 RPG last season and pretty much put up those same numbers in the losing effort against the Hawks.

Indiana’s backcourt is anchored by lightning-quick point guard T.J. Ford, who, since coming back from injury a few seasons ago, seems to have become one of the more solid point guards in the league, averaging 15.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 5.3 APG the year before. He’s joined in the backcourt by Dahntay Jones, who looks to make this a breakout year now that he’ll see significant starting minutes in the Pacers lineup after Indiana picked him up in the offseason from the Denver Nuggets.

The Pacers’ weakest position is probably center, where they start journeyman Jeff Foster, who while a big presence in the post at 6’11″ and 250 lbs., is anything but a player with a big game. O’Neal should dominate him throughout the game and provide the rest of his fellow starters with some much-needed help.

Indiana also will have former Heat guard Luther Head, who had a cup of coffee with Miami near the end of last season. He’ll give Jones some rest at times, but I’m not sure he’s up to stopping even our backup shooting guard, Daequan Cook, so the Pacers will have a tough time defending against Miami.

The Pacers will be hoping rookie Tyler Hansbrough might make a contribution, although his status for the game is questionable after he injured his right shin recently. The ACC’s all-time leading scorer, whom Indiana drafted 13th overall in this year’s draft, is someone the Pacers are hoping can be a solid backup to either Granger or Murphy.

While the Heat haven’t had much luck in the past playing the Pacers in their hometown, look for that to change drastically tonight, as Miami doesn’t just beat Indiana, but destroys them, again not fully answering the questions that will continue to swirl around the franchise until they’ve either faced and vanquished a few top-tier teams, or spent more than a couple of games beating up on the dregs of the NBA.

My prediction: Miami 105 Indiana 85

Quotes taken from the AP preview article of the game.

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Heat-Pacers: Miami Looks to Continue Scorching Play Against Pacers

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