Meeting for the second time in nine days, the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers hope to continue a recent stretch of entertaining games. Following a thrilling seven-game Eastern Conference Finals series that saw the Heat advance to and win their second-straight NBA Championship a season ago, the two teams met for the first time this season. Representing the East as the top two teams in the conference last Tuesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the Pacers imposed their will on the Heat when it mattered most.
Falling behind by 11 after the first quarter, Indiana (20-4) pulled to within 7 at the break before using a 28-17 third quarter to take a 68-84 lead into the fourth. Holding off the champs at home for a 90-84 victory, Indiana remained atop the Eastern Conference, the position they hold heading into the next matchup against Miami (18-6). The Heat sit just two games behind the Pacers in the current Eastern Conference standings but after watching LeBron James suffer an ankle injury in the team's most recent win over the Utah Jazz, the Heat could be without the four-time MVP when they host Indiana at AmericanAirlines Arena Wednesday night.
"I've had my fair share of ankle twists so I already knew how it was going to be today," James, who scored 30 points in Miami's win over Utah, said earlier this week. "Very stiff, very sore, it'll be around the clock treatment with Mike (Mancias, his trainer) and we'll go from there. I'm day to day, and we'll see what happens. I didn't step on nobody's foot, my ankle just turned. So it's frustrating." James has dealt with ankle issues in the past but set to take on an Indiana team coming off a surprising loss to Detroit, Miami would love nothing more than to have the services of The King.
The Pacers on the other hand will be looking for repeat performances from Paul George and Roy Hibbert, who combined to score 41 points in last week's win over the Heat. The key to another win over the two-time defending champs according to George will be forgetting the 101-96 loss to the Pistons and focusing on the task at hand.
"A loss like this brings us back to reality," George said. "We can't turn it on, we can't have a switch when we want to. Teams are getting up and getting ready to play us, so we have to match that energy and prepare like they're the team to beat."
Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers: DATE, TIME & VIEWING INFO
DATE: Wednesday, December 18
TIME: 7:00pm, ET
TV COVERAGE: ESPN
LIVE STREAM: Available through WatchESPN
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