LeBron has admitted as much himself.

“It’s definitely a lot more taxing wrestling with the bigger guys,” James said Tuesday before Game 2. “But I’m ready for the challenge.”

… With backup power forward Udonis Haslem playing only 12 minutes, James was asked to body up West on the block on several occasions. At 6-foot-8 and 260 pounds, James has the size to pull it off, but he’s also responsible for running the Heat’s offense and leading the fast break. In essence, James has to play like a big man on one end and like a point guard on the other.

Defensively, James says, is where he burns the most energy.

“That’s the biggest difference,” he said. “When you’re on the perimeter, there’s more space. In the interior it’s more cramped and physical than the perimeter. You have to prepare for it.”

The Pacers are also acutely aware of this potential advantage, that will likely swing even more their way the longer this series continues and the more LeBron has to play defense in the paint. Frank Vogel went on 1070 The Fan radio in Indiana this morning and discussed the topic.

“We definitely recognize that trying to guard David West is a physical drain,” said Vogel. “The challenge is that [LeBron] does such a good job not letting David get the ball that it’s tough to go at him without the risk of stagnating your offense.”

That’s the risk. You want to use this as an advantage but not take yourself out of what has gotten you this far: moving the ball around the offense and relying on no one player much more than the others.

Furthermore, Vogel has reservations that anything he does will have an effect. ”You look at those two guys play and the thought of actually doing anything that could fatigue them is a little bit comical,” said Vogel on 1070. “They’re almost superhuman with their body types and their athleticism. They just seem like they could play the game forever.”

It seems possible that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra might test out that theory. LeBron has now played 86 of a possible 96 minutes in the first two games. Wade’s minutes have been managed better as he has only played 78, which is only a tick above his career regular season average of 37 minutes per game.

LeBron would never admit that fatigue would impact his ability to win this series. He did note that “hopefully I can get a few minutes here, a few minutes there” to rest, but it certainly won’t be an excuse the team will use if it loses this series against the Pacers.

Still, looking at the two clips below, it’s hard to say that it isn’t having some effect.

No offense to Danny Granger, but I haven’t seen him blow by LeBron this easily many times during the regular season.

And here we see LeBron battling all over the half-court with West, who eventually puts James on his back near the “Dirk Zone.” West makes a good move and takes a shot quicker than LeBron was likely expecting, but it is odd to see James not even get off his feet to challenge the shot.

Ultimately, we probably won’t ever know whether or not fatigue and playing down low will affect LeBron in this series. But there is one thing I’m certain of: the mere idea of defending David West exhausts me.

Related posts:

1. Game #49 Addendum – Oh, Yeah…LeBron
2. The Keys to Defeat: Leaving LeBron Open and Not Getting a Shot on the Ensuing Possession
3. Roy Hibbert Dunks on LeBron James Then Swats the King’s Soft Layup

Most onlookers would expect Wade to turn it around, however. And even if he can’t get out of his jump-shooting slump, he is such a dynamic and versatile scorer that he will find ways to put points on the board. He is still among the most lethal penetrators in league history, a Maserrati on the break and a fixture at the free-throw line. His individual talent to score remains the second-biggest concern for the Pacers (following, ya know, the talents of that other guy.)

Conversely, it really isn’t Wade that the Heat should be concerned about.

What they need to fix is the lack of production from their one-dimensional supporting cast. Because the rest of the team is shooting just as poorly as Wade. In 160 combined minutes during Game 2, the other eight players who entered the game other than James and Wade scored just 23 points on 9-for-34 FGs (26.5%). In Game 1, over 140 combined minutes, Miami players not named LeBron, Wade or Bosh scored 21 points on 7-for-21 (33%) shooting. And being even that useful required a 4-for-4, 9-point performance from Joel Antony, a career 2.7 point per game scorer.

Part of the Plan

For the Pacers, this is all going according to strategy. Frank Vogel was on 1070 The Fan radion in Indiana this morning and discussed how his team is focusing on taking away Miami’s role players.

“[We're] very focused on what those guys’ strengths are,” said Vogel. “All their role players are capable of much greater production than they put forth last night. But they are sort of limited in what can do. They’re either drivers or shooters or dunkers at the basket. But they’re not versatile, they’re not multi-weapon type of guys. So if you just dial in to taking away their one strength, they’re guys that can be limited.”

The number-one way to minimize the Heat’s bench is to take away their ability to shoot open three-point looks. There are very few ways any of them can hurt you other than by making triples. And it is something they do very well.

Throughout the regular season, Miami was the 9th best three-point shooting team. Oddly, however, they actually didn’t take that many. They were 23rd in the NBA in terms of threes per game (which was coincidentally just one spot below the Pacers). And strangely enough, Indiana had the same profile: a low-volume, high-accuracy three-point shooting team that knocked down 36.8% of its triples (good for 6th best).

So going into this second-round matchup, the reasonable expectation was to see two teams that won’t shoot that many threes but will make a high percentage of those they did put up.

Things have not played out that way, however.

Through two games, the Heat have shot 1-for-22 (4.5%) from three-point range. By comparison the Pacers have been sharpshooters, but their 7-for-32 (21.9%) success rate leaves a ton to be desired. We’re only talking about a two-game sample size so obviously that will skew the stats. And when you throw in factors like Danny Granger’s shooting slump (1-for-5 from deep in Game 1, 0-for-5 in Game 2) and Miami’s woeful bench shooting overall, the team-wide number become less shocking.

But there is another factor that makes the shooting woes of both teams curious: Miami and Indiana — two excellent defensive teams all year long — generally don’t defend the three-point line well. In the regular season, Miami was the NBA’s 4th best defense but only 26th when it comes to preventing teams from knocking down threes. They allowed opponents to shoot a potent 36.3% from deep.

The Pacers were somewhat of a mirror image. They were league’s 9th best defense in the regular season, allowing opponents to shoot 35.1% from behind the arc, which ranked them as the 17th best team in the league at preventing threes. (For reference, league average was giving up 34.9% and the Nuggets were the worst, giving up 38.3%.)

But even surrendering a worse-than-average percentage from three-point land, they both kept their opponents eFG% (which adjusts regular FG% to account for the fact that three-pointers are worth more than two-point shots) relatively low. The Pacers were the 7th-best team in terms of eFG% allowed due to their ability to keep teams’ overall FG% down to 43.5%. The Heat were nearly identical in this regard (eFG% against of 47.9% with a FG% against of 43.4%).

Changing the Defensive Priority

What we can infer here is that both Indiana and Miami generally practice a defensive strategy that prioritizes taking away high-percentage shots in the paint while allowing teams to take shoot long jumpers, including threes. You can’t stop everything, so allow teams to take long, contested shots and presume you will beat them unless they have a lights-out night.

If that is what each team has been doing in Games 1 and 2, it has worked. Nobody can hit the water from a boat. But that actually hasn’t been Indiana’s strategy against Miami.

Presumably, a good defensive team can adapt its play.

And that is exactly what the Pacers did in their first-round matchup with the Magic. It’s hard to compare Orlando’s full-season data to it’s playoff results considering that Dwight Howard has so much to do with everything that happened in the regular season. But the Pacers were able to keep the Magic from hurting them too badly from deep. In the series, Stan Van Gundy’s squad only shot 34.4% from behind the arc, which is respectable but well below the 37.7% they hit in the regular season. Again, the drop could have more to do with being Dwight-less, but it is a significant drop when you’re talking about 122 attempts.

Trying to replicate that success against Miami makes some sense against the Heat.

Obviously, goal one will continue to be keeping LeBron and Dwyane out of the paint. But at some point, you need to realize that they are unstoppable forces of nature who can only be contained not stopped. Meanwhile, the rest of their perimeter players are guys with limited skill sets who can, usually, make open shots. Mike Miller (who shot 45.3% from three this season) is the most dangerous followed by James Jones (40.4%), Mario Chalmers (38.9%) and to a lesser degree Shane Battier (33.9%) and Norris Cole (27.9%).

Outside of (very occasionally) Chalmers, none of those guys can hurt you with anything but an open jumper. So the sensible thing to do is try to keep them from taking uncontested threes while hoping you can make LeBron and Dwyane settle for mid-range jumpers or, better yet when it comes to Wade, threes. (He shot a horrific 26.8% from deep this season.)

With Bosh out and most of Miami’s non-Hall-of-Famers mired in shooting slumps, that becomes the most logical adjustment going forward: let James and a struggling Wade take as many shots as they want in the half-court while not letting anyone else get hot and limiting Miami’s transition points.

Here is how they did so in Game 2.

Exhibit A

This video doesn’t show it as well as Couper Moorhead explains it at NBA.com, but it is meant to show a key way the Pacers are limiting the looks: staying home on shooters — especially in the corner. This is something Indiana knows first-hand can burn them. One of the reasons they lost in overtime to Miami in March was because they over-helped on penetration and surrendered an corner three. Specifically, Granger kept a foot in the paint on a Wade drive and allowed him to kick it out to a wide-open James, who knocked down the triple to force overtime, where Indy lost.

What Indiana has been doing so far in the playoffs is the opposite. They are now making sure the strong-side help defender doesn’t lose track of the guy in the corner. He is “keeping zero feet in the paint” so to speak. Above (and highlighted in the screen capture below), you see West barely hedges as LeBron probes the defense with penetration. The result is that he remains close enough to Shane Battier to contest.

Some teams have elected to have that defender play with a foot in the lane just to prevent the drive, waiting until Miami hits a couple of triples to move out a couple of feet. But with the defense crowding shooters like this, any shot attempt has to be rushed. Even when Miami plays small and West is pulled out of the lane onto one of those shooters, West is doing a wonderful job closing ground and contesting any opportunity.

As you see below, even a driving LeBron doesn’t cause West to lose discipline.

Exhibit B

More of the same here. George Hill stays anchored to Mike Miller. Wade doesn’t get all that free in what is a pretty poorly run pick-and-roll, but you can tell Hill’s only concern here is Miller.

Exhibit C

You can see how Hill stays with Miller even better here. And this is in an instance where Wade is bearing down on Hibbert and Miller is way out on the wing. Still, with Hill’s length, he is able to cover ground quickly and get a good contest on Miller’s three.

Obviously, if the Pacers are to continue getting hands up on all of Miami’s role-playing shooters, they will have to first and foremost maintain the discipline. Choosing to stay grounded in open space when players like LeBron and Wade are driving at the basket is not easy. It goes against defensive instincts that have become ingrained since the earliest days of playing organized basketball. But the one good thing the Pacers have going for them is some “make up” room based on good genetics. Even when they’re a step slow, Hill, Granger and especially Paul George have the quickness and length to get out.

Exhibit D

 This clips shows not so much great execution, but the mentality of a team that is prioritizing taking away the most efficient shot in the NBA: the corner three. Here, despite Chalmers catching beyond the arc on the wing, two Pacers defenders still run to the corner. Obviously, one of them blew the transition rotation and they should have communicated better. And you just as obviously want to cover the guy with the ball before worrying about the guy he might pass to, but it may be this emphasis on limiting open corner threes in particular that will help Indiana keep Miami from racking up the triples.

It certainly worked against Orlando. In five games, the Pacers only allowed the Magic to make 8-of-26 (30.8%) of their corner threes. In the regular season, Orlando made 41.3% of their triples from the corner.

Exhibit E

Check out Darren Collison at the 9-second mark in this video. He seems to forget that his key responsibility is checking Mario Chalmers behind the three-point line no matter where he is. So he momentarily stays in helpside underneath the hoop in case LeBron tries to drive right towards the baseline. Then he seems to remember that he needs to go track down Mario instead and sprints over. It was a good call. Chalmers later gets the pass behind the arc and attempts a three that was highly contest by Collison.

Related posts:

1. Game #57 Recap: Indiana Barely Shows Up One Day After Two Pacer Players Were Minutes Away from Never Showing Up Again
2. Game #8 Recap: Taking Care of Business
3. Game #9 Preview: Honey, Get Me My Business-Taking-Care-Of Shoes — We’re Going Home

In one season, the Pacers leapfrogged from sneaking into the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time in five years as an 8th seed with a losing record to the fifth best team in the NBA. Some of that is from natural improvement: Roy Hibbert, Paul George and Darren Collison all became much better players in a short time. But a lot of it is also the product of the most obvious reason: David West and George Hill are now on the roster.

For this — and perhaps just being a Pawn Star GM who made didn’t sign any free agents to bad contracts before the season — Larry Bird has been named 2011-12 NBA Executive of the Year. He certainly deserves the recognition. RC Buford of the Spurs is really the only other reasonable candidate.

In getting the award, Bird becomes the first person to win MVP, Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year honors. I’m not sure there is another person alive more befitting his nickname. Legend indeed.

Of course, it will be a classic Larry Bird move if he does walk away from the job after he is named the best in the business at it. Just seems like a nice, tidy way to end things. Even more classic Bird? This comment from Larry: “This is an honor for the Indiana Pacers, not an award for Larry Bird.”

Regardless of what happens in the offseason, Bird has certainly set up this home state franchise for long-term success.

Related posts:

1. Will Larry Bird Be Back Next Year?
2. Larry Bird, the Pawn Stars GM, Reportedly Has Offered Jamal Crawford a Two-Year Deal
3. Larry Bird: “No Decision Has Been Made” on His Future with the Pacers

• With Chris Bosh out indefinitely, we are all left to wonder who will fill the role of “third best player who is left out of Wade and Lebron’s press conference.”

• “Ronny Turiaf starts for the Miami Heat.” The Pacers shouldn’t need any more bulletin board material than that.

• Nobody ever wants to give Erick Spoelstra credit, but every player on the Miami Heat plays good defense and nothing comes easy for their opponents offensively. When Mike Miller seems like a good defender you know there is some good coaching going on.

• Aggression. That’s what you want from George Hill and Darren Collison. When Hill is aggressive on offense and Collison comes in and brings his own offensive flair, it is just a reminder of what the Heat lack. Mario Chalmers does what is asked of him for the Heat, but there is no doubt that either Hill or Collison would start for Miami.

• Lebron James makes Ronny Turiaf 439% better. This guy really is the MVP.

• I realize that Lebron James has physical attributes like no one one else in the NBA, but if you think that James was just “blessed” with natural talents then ask yourself why Paul George has had such a small impact on the playoffs thus far.

• Dahnaty Jones swag is in my top five favorite swags.

• Cheap Hansbrough fouls are frustrating.

• The terrible shooting an double-digit first half turnovers for the Pacers are just embarrassing. The Pacers did not show up ready to play competitive basketball with a great team. Luckily the Heat had no intentions of resembling a great team.

• A playoff game should not be this hard to watch through nearly three quarters. It’s hard to tell if both defenses were working their butt off or if both offenses were just kind of doing whatever.

• The Indiana Pacers flat out love the third quarter. Outscored the Heat 28-14 in this one.

• Lebron takes flopping to a whole different level. It seems like he is willingly putting his body in danger despite very little contact.

• Wade’s flagrant on Collison was pretty unnecessary, but at least the ball hit him directly in the face as it was happening.

• Did anybody else wake up when Granger and Lebron got into it?

• Marv Albert basically told the Miami Heat they don’t want to mess around with David West. They were correct.

• TNT ran a segment called “Miller Time” in which they provided a very boring explanation of why Danny Granger actually has four fouls instead of the earlier claim of five. Sweatin’ Bullets may not be globally popular, but I think it is more riveting than “Miller Time.”

• A jump ball against Lebron James is pretty much just a turnover.

• I can’t stand all the haters that claim that the NBA just consists of a bunch of athletic people without much fundamentals or skills. I also hope none of those people watched this game. They don’t need any more fuel.

• Niether of these teams really wanted to win this game.

• At least the Heat haven’t taken Chris Bosh for granted the past two years or anything…

• Let’s be honest, the Pacers won this game by default. Someone had to. Both teams had trouble executing, both teams missed shots, both teams forgot how to shoot free throws, but the team that played the hardest won.

• The Heat look like a very different team without Chris Bosh. I would expect them to come out and play better in Game 3, but Wade and Lebron looked relatively human and the supporting cast looked abysmal.

• The Pacers can win this series.

Related posts:

1. Sweatin’ Bullets: How the Pacers Beat the Heat
2. With Chris Bosh “Out Indefinitely,” the Pacers’ Chances to Beat the Heat Improve
3. Sweatin’ Bullets: What Else Rhymes With Lester?

After the Pacers lost Game 1, they complained — although subtly so as not to get fined — about the officiating. In Game 2, Mario Chalmers casually mentioned (I’m not going to say “complained” … I wasn’t there to hear him talk) that he got hit on the elbow as he tried to hit the game-tying three on Miami’s last possession. ”I felt like I was fouled on the three that I shot but they didn’t call it. Darren got me for sure,” said Chalmers, according to ESPN. ”It is a shot I usually knock down,” added Chalmers, who shot 2-for-10 (and 0-for-4 from behind the arc) tonight.

To recap: teams that lose are consistently unhappy with outcome of game, including how it was officiated.

News at 11.

Looks like Mario is probably correct though based on the photo above. Tom Haberstroh has another photo, some video and a little more on this over at the Heat Index if you care (link above).

Related posts:

1. David West May or May Not Play Tonight in Indiana’s Final Preseason Game
2. Peter Vecsey Says This Is Larry Bird’s Final Season as Pacers Boss
3. Paul George Hits a Half-Court Shot vs. Miami

This little exchange by two guys who clearly weren’t going to fight each other happened around the 7-minute mark in the fourth quarter of tonight’s Pacers win over the Heat in Game 2. A little tangle up, a little exchange of unpleasantries, a little Brazilian dude running over to see what’s going on and a little bit of everyone calming down once David West came over. A non-event basically, but it came just two minutes after Dwyane Wade was whistled for a flagrant foul on Darren Collison while the game was ramping up in intensity. The Heat shot 5-for-14 (35.7%) from the field and 3-for-8 (37.5%) from the line following this little incident, for what that’s worth. The Pacers were 4-for-8 (50%) from the field and 5-for-10 (50%) from the line.

(video via CBS Sports)

Related posts:

1. Roy Hibbert Dunks on LeBron James Then Swats the King’s Soft Layup
2. Twitter Video Preview: Indy Opens Their First Back-to-Back-to-Back by Hosting LeBron James and the Miami Heat
3. Post-Game Grades: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade Too Much for Pacers

File this story under “Pacers Piss Off Opponents Like None Other, Part IV.”

Apparently, after the Pacers won Game 2 in South Beach, they were excited. They hooted and hollered some. This is shocking, of course, because most underdogs don’t enjoy winning playoff games on the road. So of course Dwyane Wade went out of his way to talk about it at length after a reported solicited his reaction.

Chris Tomasson of Fox Sun Sports in Florida has the story, which mostly likely is rooted in ABC picking up an in-game quote from Game 1 when Pacers coach Frank Vogel tried to motivate his team to victory by saying, “Do what the Mavericks did — BUT DO IT BETTER.” The Dallas Mavericks, in case you missed it, upset the Heat in the NBA Finals last year.

“I heard they wanted to be like the Dallas Mavericks, in a sense,” Wade said about an apparent reference to Pacers coach Frank Vogel using last year’s Mavs team, which beat the Heat in Miami for the title, as motivation for Indiana. “I saw their little celebration at the end of (Game 2). I don’t know if they didn’t expect to win, but every night we go out on the court, we expect to win.”

Wade then was asked about the celebration, but didn’t elaborate on what specifically irritated him.

“They say their identity, they say they want to be like Dallas,” Wade said. “So they celebrated like Dallas, I guess.”

On the zinger scale of “every joke Shaq has made on Inside the NBA” to Gregg Popovich benching Tim Duncan and writing “DNP-OLD” in the box score, this is somewhere in the middle. It’s not as good as Wade’s comedic work mocking Dirk for being sick, which was legit sorta funny, but it’s marginally clever in the sense of properly framing some decent “calm down, young’ns, it’s one game” mockery. I’ll give him a solid B- in my Post-Game Comedy Grades.

And while the Pacers didn’t exactly rent out the hottest club in Miami and buy a bottle of $90,000 champagne, the video above clearly shows that David West also would have preferred his teammates just give each other some reserved high fives and walked quietly to the locker room. (via CBS Sports)

But the best part is how often NBA stars (and Larry Sanders) get fired up about the Pacers while talking to reporters. Derrick Rose actually called out Indiana for this same thing: celebrating after a win on the road. And after the Pacers won in Minnesota, Kevin Love felt the need to publicly express his long-time dislike of the franchise.

Interesting. Now that the Pacers have knotted the series at 1-1, however, I imagine that, more than trying not to upset Wade again, their goal is to find out just how pissed off Kevin Garnett can get at them.

Related posts:

1. Dwyane Wade’s Playing Status “In Doubt” Tonight
2. Post-Game Grades: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade Too Much for Pacers
3. Paul George Slowed Down Dwyane Wade

Series tied 1-1. Pacers looked like they should have been down 30 in the first half. They looked in complete control in the third quarter and into the fourth. Then the ending was a gross display of futility from teams that couldn’t score or hit a free throw. Ugly stuff, but the Pacers made more plays than their opponents and now get to head to Indiana with home court advantage against a depleted and very beatable Heat team that needs to win a game on the road.

More on this game in the hours and days to come. For now, here is how each guy played individually tonight. Agree? Disagree? Express your thoughts below in the comments or yell at me (@8pts9secs) or Tim (@TimDonahue8p9s) on Twitter.

	David West 41 MIN | 5-13 FG | 6-8 FT | 10 REB | 2 BLK | 16 PTS Had 7 of the Pacers’ 17 pts in the 4th and set the tone for the period by not settling for shots outside of the paint late. Execution wasn’t great there, but Indy’s mentality of attacking the lane was encouraging.
	Danny Granger 5-14 FG | 6 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 4 TO | 11 PTS Gross first half, shooting just 2-of-7 with 2 TOs. But was an effective aggressor after the break, especially in a 3rd quarter during which the Pacers took control and hit 10 of 18 shots. The only play better than his blow by to score on LeBron may have been his monster block on that same, aforementioned King. Fouled out.
	Roy Hibbert 33 MIN | 2-6 FG | 4-6 FT | 11 REB | 3 BLK | 8 PTS Many were predicting him to drop a 20/10 without Bosh on the court. Not so much. He is not someone you run your offense through — for a lot of reasons. He’s much better when he’s playing off of others, hitting the glass, protecting the rim, which he did very well tonight.
	George Hill 35 MIN | 4-9 FG | 6-7 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 5 TO | 15 PTS He missed the free throw late, and only scored a point in the 4th, but without him in the second and third quarter, the Pacers are probably facing a 20-point deficit in the middle of the game.
	Paul George 33 MIN | 4-11 FG | 0-2 FT | 11 REB | 3 STL | 10 PTS By the time Wade spun by him for a dunk, it looked like yet another bad playoff game for George. But he later lived up to his lock-down reputation, forcing both Wade and LeBron into very tough shots again and again. Team defense won this game and Paul’s work allowed everything else to work. His block of LeBron James late in the game is as big of a defensive play as you’ll see in the series. Needs to not miss clutch free throws though. Boo on that.

	Darren Collison 17 MIN | 2-4 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS Not up to his (high) 2012 playoff standards but was still solid. He looked good with that deadly pull up off the PnR.
	Dahntay Jones 8 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS Dahntay has provided some excellent minutes in the past two games and Indiana might turn out to be glad that foul trouble forced him to show how well he can play against Miami at times. Plus, he has a new fan. RT @hpbasketball: I like Dahntay Jones. I’m one of like, five peope, but I do.
	Leandro Barbosa 25 MIN | 4-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 8 PTS I have tripled-checked the box score now and it still says Barbosa only had 8 pts. Felt like a bigger presence for sure. And could have easily taken a jumper on Indy’s last possession after the ORB. But took it to the hole and it ended up getting Roy to the line. Leandro can be all or nothing and he was “nothing” early on. Mark him down for “all” in the second half though.
	Louis Amundson 5 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS Barely remember him playing. He didn’t in the second half.
	Tyler Hansbrough, 7 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 3 PF | 0 PTS Wasn’t hitting his jumper, and really wasn’t able to make any impact with his energy. Vogel opted not to use him in the second half.

Related posts:

1. Post-Game Grades: Pacers 98, Cavs 91 (OT)
2. Post-Game Grades: Pacers Finally Win
3. Post-Game Grades: Pacers Wax the Clippers

As basically everyone on Twitter noted, this frustration foul could have easily gotten Dwyane Wade ejected. He went hard to the rim on the ensuing possession and was (perhaps rightfully … though it was a 50/50 call) miffed at the refs for not calling a foul on Dahntay Jones. Obviously this was an over-reaction. And who knows: Maybe the league will review it and suspend Dwayne for Game 3? #jokes

Related posts:

1. Paul George Slowed Down Dwyane Wade
2. Darren Collison Thinks He’s Improving
3. Post-Game Grades: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade Too Much for Pacers

As if Paul George doesn’t have enough to be embarrassed about this post-season. Now he will be in NBA promos for eternity. And while he was caught gambling, this is more just a sensational move than anything by, remember, the Heat’s second-best player.

Related posts:

1. Larry Bird Is Keeping All Options Open, But Trading Danny Granger Likely Isn’t One of Them
2. Paul George Windmill Dunk Punctuates Pacers OT Win Over the Hornets
3. Post-Game Grades: Indy Loses a Brutal OT Game to Miami on a LeBron 3 and Wade Prayer