(2) Miami Heat @ (1) Indiana Pacers Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals

(2) Miami Heat @ (1) Indiana Pacers

Indianapolis, Indiana

Bankers Life Fieldhosue

3:30PM

Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals

Coverage on ABC

Miami Heat Starting Lineup:
PG:Mario Chalmers
SG:Dwyane Wade
SF:LeBron James
PF:Shane Battier
C:Chris Bosh

Heat Inactive List:
Greg Oden and Justin Hamilton

Indiana Pacers Starting Lineup:
PG:George Hill
SG:Lance Stephenson
SF:Paul George
PF:David West
C:Roy Hibbert

Pacers Inactive List:
Andrew Bynum and Evan Turner

At last the two teams we all predicted earlier in the season to face of in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight season , are set to face off in Game of 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in a matter of half an hour. Heat vs Pacers has turn into a legit rivalry ever since last season, which was highlighted in last years Eastern Conference Finals, in which the Heat eliminated the Pacers in 7 games. The loss in Game 7 motivated the Pacers all season to get the the number one seed headed into this years postseason. Indiana felt that if they had home court in last years Eastern Conference Finals versus the Heat, they would've been playing against the San Antonio Spurs in last years NBA Finals. Losing in that Game 7 made getting home court to use deep into the Eastern Conference side of the playoff bracket the number one priority for the Pacers throughout the entire regular season. Getting the number one seed in the East wasn't a priority for the back-to-back champions Miami Heat, as they put more emphasis into having a healthy Dwyane Wade for the postseason. Throughout the regular season the Heat put Wade on a knee maintenance program that caused him to miss almost all of the second games of back to backs. Dwyane missed more time for a case of drop foot, a minor strained hamstring, a minor achilles injury, migraines and even a cold, causing him to miss a total of 32 games throughout the entire 82 games regular season. Wade missing more than a third of the regular season caused the Heat to put out very inconsistent lineups throughout the season. There were times in the season were the Heat looked like they really didn't care much about the regular season, when they lost against a few more sub .500 squads than they wanted to and they were playing sluggish on both ends of the court. Both the Heat and Pacers have approached their seasons very differently. Despite struggles by the Pacers in the final month of the regular season they were able to grab a hold of the number one seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the playoffs. In the final month of the season and throughout the playoffs so far, the Pacers have been playing very inconsistently compared to the Miami Heat. While the Pacers went to a Game 7 versus the 8th seed in the opening round against the Atlanta Hawks, the Heat swept their first round opponent in the 7th seed Charlotte Bobcats. In the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals the Heat knocked off the Brooklyn Nets in five games with a record of 4-1, while Indiana closed out the Washington Wizards in 6 games with a record 4-2. Even though the Heat have made it to this point without much struggle as they have went 8-1 in the postseason and the Pacers struggled to get to this point, both these teams are exactly were they wanted to be. Both teams are just four wins away from advancing to the NBA Finals versus the winner of the Spurs/Thunder Western Conference Finals series. Many people in the media covering the NBA believe the Pacers recent struggles won't matter much against their disliked rival Miami Heat. This series is surely going to be intriguing to watch but I believe the championship pedigree of the Miami Heat well prevail against the determined Indiana Pacers. If the Heat are able to limit or shut down Roy Hibbert defending him down low and/or if the Heat can shoot from beyond the three point arc efficiently and the Heat can play at a high level on defense I predict the Heat to advance in five games. However if the Heat aren't able to due want I listed above I predict this series goes to six or seven games. The home court advantage throughout this years playoffs hasn't mattered much as the road teams have played pretty we'll on the road. So far during the postseason the Pacers have lost a total of four homes games, while the Heat haven't lost at home yet. The Miami Heat as an organization have lost six consecutive Game 1's on the road in the playoffs. Shane Battier is surprisingly starting, as many believed that Udonis Halsem was going to be in the starting lineup, due to the fact Haslem defensed Roy Hibbert very well in the regular season compared to how Bosh, Oden, and Andersen have been defending him.  It seems that the Heat are going to force the Indiana Pacers to matchup to them, not the other way around with the Shane Battier starting. Lastly, there is defiantly going to be some physical moments throughout the games in this series with the dislike these two teams have for each other.