Pacers vs. Heat: Round 4

Kail, Chad. Pacers vs. Heat. Digital image. All Sports No Life. N.p., 5 Jan. 2014. Web.

       

The Indiana Pacers are set to travel to Miami to take on the Heat on Friday, April 11th. The game will be broadcasted on NBATV at 7:30 ET. It will be the fourth time that these two teams have faced off, with the Pacers leading the season series 2-1. It has grown to be one of the best rivalries in basketball. 

The Pacers are ahead of the two time defending champions by half a game in the standings for the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. Whichever team wins will most likely get that number one seed. This is a great benefit in the playoffs, as the team who gets it will be able to have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. That will include a likely matchup between the Pacers and the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. In a seven game series, four games at home will be a great advantage to whichever team happens to get the number one seed. This was shown last year when the Heat beat the Pacers in Miami in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. 

These teams have faced off three times previously this season, with the home team winning in all three matchups (Pacers 2-1). This highlights the importance of the number one seed, which will most likely be determined by the winner of this game. 

In the first matchup of the year, the Pacers won by 6 points. Miami dominated in the 1st quarter, but the Pacers came back in the 3rd quarter to finish off the Heat. The Heat took the next battle in Miami, winning by three, one week later. On March 26, LeBron James missed a potential game winning shot, so the Pacers ended up with the win. All these games have been close, defensive battles, so the same should be expected for the game tomorrow. 

I am not a big Miami fan, but I still have to choose them to win this game, solely because the game is being played in Miami, and the home team has won all of the matchups so far. It will be a close game, but the Heat will win it in the end.