***** NBA Previews from The Sports Network *****
                                Friday, May 24th
                              (All times Eastern)
 
 
 (3) INDIANA PACERS (0-1) AT (1) MIAMI HEAT (1-0),  8:30 P.M.
 
 (Sports Network) - LeBron James led the Miami Heat to victory in Game 1 and on
 Friday, the defending champions will try for a 2-0 lead over the Indiana
 Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals.
 
 With 2.2 seconds on the clock, James got the inbounds pass, streaked by Paul
 George and cruised in for the winning layup in overtime. The Heat survived,
 103-102.
 
 "I peeked over my left shoulder. I saw Paul George was a little out of place.
 So I just took off," said James, who had a remarkable triple-double of 30
 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists on Wednesday.
 
 George over-played and made things much easier on James. But much of the
 discussion about the play centered around Pacers' coach Frank Vogel's decision
 to not have shot-blocker Roy Hibbert on the floor.
 
 Hibbert, who received votes for the All-Defensive team, was on the bench when
 James streaked to the hoop for a lay-in with 10 seconds left, then Vogel did
 not re-insert him after George buried three huge free throws to give the
 Pacers the lead.
 
 Miami had the ball out of bounds on its sideline, but Indiana called timeout,
 once again, giving Vogel a chance to check Hibbert into the game. He didn't.
 George, another member of the All-Defensive team, botched the defensive
 assignment, as James glided to the rim and the Heat won.
 
 Vogel explained his decision to keep Hibbert on the bench.
 
 "That's the dilemma they present when they have Chris Bosh at the five spot
 and his ability to space the floor," said Vogel. "We put a switching lineup in
 with the intent to switch, keep everything in front of us and try to go into
 or force a challenged jump shot."
 
 And would Vogel have Hibbert in there if the situation presented itself again?
 
 "We'll have to evaluate and see what we'll do the next time," he said. "I
 would say we'll probably have him in next time."
 
 On Thursday, Vogel addressed the criticism, which came from everyone with an
 opinion and an outlet to express it.
 
 "It's natural," he said. "When you make a coaching decision and it doesn't
 work, you're going to be second-guessed. Part of the business.
 
 "All I can say is, it was a sound plan. When you have five 3-point shooters on
 the court, you need a switching lineup out there with five guys who are great
 ball containers."
 
 George made the critical mistake, but was outstanding for four quarters and
 4:50 of overtime. He drained a long 3-pointer to tie it and force overtime,
 then, the first-time All-Star sank three free throws to give the Pacers a one-
 point lead.
 
 "I made a bonehead mistake of pressuring up on LeBron," said George. "We're
 all a young team. Coach is a young coach. We'll all grow together. So that's
 something that we have to learn from."
 
 George paced Indiana with 27 points, followed by 26 from David West and 19
 from Hibbert. Tyler Hansbrough added 10 off the bench as the awesome Pacers
 front line did its part.
 
 The back court did not. George Hill managed only five points in almost 45
 minutes and Lance Stephenson had seven, although he did pull down 12 rebounds.
 
 James was his typical MVP self, but Miami got great efforts from almost
 everyone.
 
 Dwyane Wade, who fouled out, scored 19 points, and Bosh netted 17. Mario
 Chalmers chipped in 10 points and Chris Andersen was amazing with 16 points,
 on 7-for-7 shooting, in just 18 minutes.
 
 Both teams know improvements can be made, especially since both had 20-plus
 turnovers.
 
 "We know we can get better. We watched the film. We had 20-plus turnovers,
 which is uncharacteristic of us," said James. "That's why each game is its
 own, and you try to learn from your mistakes in the previous game."
 
 Game 3 will be in Indianapolis on Sunday night.
 
 
 05/24 10:27:31 ET

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