Indiana Pacers Beat Miami Heat 94-75: Why the Heat Are in Trouble

For the second consecutive game, the Indiana Pacers held the Miami Heat to 75 points. The Pacers also won for the second consecutive game, taking a 2-1 series edge over the Heat in their conference semifinal matchup with a 94-75 victory on Thursday night.

Roy Hibbert was the star of the show in Game 3, putting up a stat line of 19 points, 18 rebounds, and five blocks. Given the stakes, it was probably the greatest performance of Hibbert's career, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Indiana needed this game, and, due in large part to Hibbert, the Pacers went out and took care of business.

Clearly the Heat are an entirely different team without Chris Bosh. He may take a lot of flack from the media and fans alike (myself included), but one cannot understate his importance to this squad. Without him, Miami's offense becomes rather stagnant, as evidenced by the fact that the Heat have not surpassed the 75-point mark in either of the past two games.

The Big Three has now become The Big Two, and neither LeBron James nor Dwyane Wade stepped up the way they should have in Game 3. James did record 22 points, but he did it at a rather mediocre 45-percent clip, hitting on only 10 of his 22 shots. He attempted only three free throws, converting only one of the three. Also, James only scored six points in the second half.

Wade? He was all but invisible, putting forth arguably the worst performance of his playoff career. He finished with five (yes, five) points off 2-of-13 shooting. It's not like he did much else, either, as Wade recorded only five boards and one assist while turning the ball over five times.

Many thought that the Heat's offensive output in Game 2 was an aberration, primarily because they shot only 1-of-16 from long range. Well, Miami did not do much to prove that assertion in Game 3, shooting only 4-of-20 from beyond the arc as a team. The Heat are struggling big time right now, and Bosh being out of the lineup is one of the key reasons they are having trouble scoring.

I don't think it's any secret that James and Wade thrive off of getting to the basket. They love getting into pick-and-rolls with Bosh, slashing to the rim, and if Bosh's man comes over to help, they have the sharp-shooting Bosh to kick the ball back out to for an open jumper. Without him, James and Wade do not have that option, as Udonis Haslem has fallen off a cliff this year, and Joel Anthony and Ronny Turiaf are simply not good jump shooters at all.

You would think James and Wade could take some solace in the fact that they have some good three-point shooters (such as Mario Chalmers, Mike Miller, and Shane Battier) to dish the ball out to should the defense collapse, but given that Miami is a paltry 5-of-42 (that's 12 percent) from three-point range in this series, they do not have that luxury right now, as their teammates aren't hitting.

Chalmers did drop 25 points on Thursday night, but he only attempted one three (he connected). He was doing a great job of getting into the lane and knocking down some floaters, so he did not need to be out on the perimeter.

Miller? He hit on two of his three long-range attempts, so that's fine, but that brings us to Battier. He misfired on all six of his three-point attempts.

How about the normally reliable James Jones? He took three and missed each one. To round it out, James went 1-of-4 and Wade missed his two three-point tries.

Battier has to start knocking down some of those shots. Either that, or James and Wade have to be more efficient in scoring the basketball. I was watching ESPN's Pardon The Interruption the other day, and Tony Kornheiser said that he felt the two stars needed to put up 60 points between them to win without Bosh. Taking into account how inept Miami's offense is outside of those two, you would think he has a point.

The funny thing is, the one time the Heat found a third scorer (on this particular night, it happened to be Chalmers), Wade laid an egg. This was a huge wasted opportunity by the Heat—if James and Wade had performed as well as they are capable of doing, Miami might very well be looking at a 2-1 lead right now.

That said, offense isn't the Heat's only problem. They have also been getting killed on the glass. After being outrebounded by the Pacers 50-40 in Game 2, they were once again beaten on the glass in Game 3—but this time it was even worse, as Indiana grabbed a 52-36 edge. If Miami isn't getting consistent offense from anyone outside of James and Wade, they cannot also be getting dominated on the boards.

Of course, there are some things the Heat can do to rally and win this series.

For one thing, James and Wade both need to be dominant. It may be a lot to ask, but it is an absolute must. You cannot expect Chalmers to score 25 every night—and even when he did in Game 3, Miami still lost by 19.

Hopefully for the Heat, LeBron and Wade can give Erik Spoelstra 25-plus points each, and then the role players such as Chalmers, Miller, and Battier can step up for 10 to 12 apiece. You have to figure that sooner or later, those threes are going to start falling.

There is one thing beyond Miami's control, though: Hibbert. He is the main reason why the Heat have been getting outrebounded, and he can have his way down low if he wants. At 7'2", he towers over anyone on the Heat, and now that Bosh is out, that is one less body to challenge him with in the post. Not that Bosh is a great rebounder or post defender, but he has some length so he could at least make things a tad more difficult for Hibbert on the boards.

Obviously, we are still relatively early in this series, and Miami will have a chance to even things up in Game 4 on Sunday. However, if these problems persist for the Heat, they might have a much earlier postseason exit than anyone—even the biggest Miami haters—could have anticipated.

The Pacers are no joke—and the impact of a missing Chris Bosh isn't, either.