NBA Playoffs 2012 Series in Review: Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers

The Heat rode the hot hand of Dwyane Wade to a 105-93, series-ending victory on Thursday night. 

Here are some takeaways from the electrifying Pacers vs. Heat series.

Dwyane Wade's Rollercoaster ride

Wade struggled mightily in games two and three, playing arguably his worst game in a Heat uniform which he finished with five points and five turnovers. Wade's terrible on-court performance translated into frustration, which paved the way for a verbal altercation between Wade and Heat head coach Eric Spoelstra. 

Dwyane changed his tune in games four, five and six, averaging over 33 points and seven rebounds per contest. 

With Wade’s inconsistency and ongoing battles with the injury bug, it’s hard to tell how he’ll come out in the Eastern Conference Finals. For the fan’s sake, I hope it resembles what he did on Thursday night. 

Chris Bosh. 

You can’t understate how much the Heat missed Chris Bosh. 

Fans, media personnel and especially the Heat organization realized the vital and irreplaceable role that Bosh plays for this team. 

He is their only low post presence and threat on the entire roster, and the only big (with the exception of Udonis Haslem on occasion) who hits the mid-range jumper with enough consistency to persuade post defenders to venture out of the paint. Not only does his offensive prowess take weight and pressure off of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, but his skill set compliments them extremely well too. 

I never thought I’d write these words, but Miami’s title hopes rest entirely on the health of Chris Bosh.

Physicality, Intensity and a Possible Rivalry 

There were multiple elbows, altercations, technicals, flops, flagrants, stitches and suspensions throughout the past two weeks, but only one victor. 

This was by far the most entertaining, exciting and chippiest series in the playoffs thus far. 

Its happenings produced endless story lines and topics like Bosh’s injury, the Pacers’ potential upset, Wade’s wavering production and sideline shouting match and endless heated altercations. 

Danny Granger’s face nearly met LeBron James’ elbow on two separate occasions, prompting Granger to rage on the MVP insistently. 

Udonis Haslem’s retaliation foul following the nine stitches he received above his right eye in Game 4 landed him a one-game suspension, while Dexter Pittman’s best “Metta World War” impression got him three games on the sideline. Tyler Hansbrough also took a turn showing off his flagrant foul abilities in Game 5, drawing blood on Dwyane Wade. 

Even the benchwarmers had a heated get-together. I can’t emphasis enough the insignificance of both the players involved and the circumstances under which the events took place, but it was entertaining nonetheless. Juwan Howard gave Lance Stephenson some words of wisdom during the pre, pre-game warmups of Game 4. Howard’s actions were prompted by Stephenson’s “choke” gesture in Indiana’s blowout win in Game 3. 

When the benchwarmers are getting involved, you know there’s some animosity, which begs the question: With all of this over-the-top, extracurricular activity between the two teams, is a rivalry brewing? 

As of now, there seems be too few incidents and even fewer games between the clubs to come to a sound conclusion, but I’d like to think there is.  

Check Out: The Bench Review