Miami still in the driving seat – but only just

Game 5 was a tale of two halves for Miami.

The first 24 minutes saw lack lustre defense and questionable intensity on behalf of the Heat, who returned to the locker room with a 4 point deficit to make up. Courtesy of an aggressive team talk from LeBron and a spat between David West and Udonis Haslem, the Heat upped their energy and vigour in the second half and killed off any hope of an Indiana win.

The Heat stepped up their defensive intensity throughout the 3rd quarter and went on a scoring run that decided the outcome of the game. Indiana failed to match this intensity on both ends of the floor, late or non-existent help defense allowing LeBron to get easy points at the rim didn’t help their case and resulting in the Pacers being outscored 30-13 in the 3rd period

Swingman Lance Stephenson of the Pacers failed to make an impact, his heroic yet questionable shots have added spark to Indiana’s offense at numerous times throughout the series when other players were failing to score the ball, but Stephenson’s performance in Game 5 left a lot to be desired. Fellow guard George Hill –who is usually a sure 8-10 points at least- also provided very little for Indiana. Both players combined for 5 points on 2-11 shooting and committed 10 personal fouls. In fact, Indiana’s entire backcourt scored less than 10 points the whole game, this made the Pacers predictable and unbalanced scoring won’t be enough to beat the Heat in Game 6.

Roy Hibbert again made an impact on the offensive end of the floor, scoring 22 points on 8-14 shooting, however he wasn’t aggressive enough on the defensive end as he recorded just 6 rebounds the whole game. Hibbert was also too slow on help defense and on a number of occasions failed to provide the basket with protection, allowing LeBron wide open paths to the basket.

Paul George made a big impact for the Pacers, tallying 27 points on 11-18 shooting whilst grabbing 11 boards and providing 5 assists for his team mates. He was also only called for 2 personal fouls the entire game despite having challenging defensive match ups and playing nearly every minute of the game. George shot 5-8 from beyond the arc and made numerous key, difficult shots that kept Indiana just within reach for short periods of the 3rd quarter.

Despite what the boxscore might suggest, this game was not a dominant performance from Miami. Head Coach Spoelstra made a key mistake in taking too long to order a double team on Hibbert down low, this is a big reason as to why the big man did so much damage in the first quarter. Eventually the double-team came and was effective with the added presence of Haslem as opposed to a smaller guard which helped reduce Hibbert’s impact upon the game in the second half.

Wade’s niggling knee injury seems as though it is still affecting him as he isn’t treating us to his usual explosive slashes to the hoop and his general energy on the court appears to be a little low. Despite this Wade still managed to add 10 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. If Miami make the Finals then Dwyane Wade’s health will play a crucial part in who is crowned 2013 NBA Champions.

The Pacers still have a chance to win at least one more game in this series. If Indiana can get George Hill and Lance Stephenson scoring the ball again whilst remaining vigilant on defense then they have a great chance to win Game 6 at home, and then anything can happen if this series goes to a 7th game.