The Pacers and Heat meet in the playoffs once again. This one is going to look a little different than last time these two met in the post-season. It was 2014 the Pacers were the top seed in the Eastern Conference and led by Paul George. The Heat had a few guys you may remember, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. The Heat would go on to win the series 2-4, but lose to the Spurs in the Finals.
This year will be played without fans in the NBA Bubble and in August. The stars of this series will be Victor Oladipo, TJ Warren, and Jimmy Butler. It’s been 6 years and the Pacers have no remaining players from that 2014 team. The Pacers were coached by Frank Vogel with Nate McMillan was his assistant. For Miami they have one remaining player from that 2014 team, Udonis Haslem, and Erik Spoelstra is still the coach.
While it’s not quite the same atmosphere as last time, this series doesn’t lack the intensity the last one had. The rivalry between Jimmy Butler and TJ Warren has fueled the fire of this series. It is going to be intense, physical and defensive just like last time.
This is the 5th time these two have met in the playoffs. The Pacers won the 1st series in 2004. The Heat took the next 3 in 2012, 2013, and 2014. All-time they’ve played 25 games against each other in the playoffs with the Heat leading in wins 11-14.
Despite being the lower seed the Heat are favored to win the series at -325.