Best of Pacers-Heat: Bad Fashion, Misbehaving Music Managers and Flopping
The Miami Heat advance to their third consecutive NBA Finals after thumping the Indiana Pacers, 99-76, on Monday night. This series had some amazing plays from Game 1 all the way through Game 7. Here are some of the greatest moments from the series.
The Pacers looked to steal Game 1 in Miami. Paul George hit this ridiculous off-balance three to tie the game with 0.7 seconds left and force overtime:
Miami got the last laugh as LeBron James went to his left and dropped in the game winning shot with time expired for the win:
Game Two saw the Pacers’ Paul George solidify himself as an NBA star despite the Pacers coming up short in the game. George put an exclamation point on this game by pummeling Miami’s Chris Andersen with this dunk:
A major issue during this series was players flopping to draw fouls, and both sides were guilty. The most egregious offender was LeBron, who has gone on record to say he doesn’t know how to flop and therefore doesn’t do it. James, along with David West and Lance Stephenson were each fined $5,000 under the league’s new anti-flopping policy. Here’s Lebron and West’s incident that garnered matching fines.
James also showcased his freakish athleticism with this block on Indiana’s George Hill:
Not to be outdone, the Pacers’ Roy Hibbert denied Heat forward Chris Bosh‘s dunk attempt:
With Game 7 completely in the Heat’s control, the focus turned to the fans in South Beach.
Pop star Justin Bieber was in attendance wearing his sunglasses indoors for some reason and was predictably torn apart by everyone on the internet for doing so. He also donned a leather shirt and a denim hat at the game, an ensemble that added to the “bad Bieber fashion” list.
Late in the fourth quarter, Miami’s Norris Cole and Indiana’s Jeff Pendergraph got into a shoving match in front of the Pacers’ bench. Rapper Flo Rida and his manager were sitting courtside, and the manager took it upon himself to add his two cents to the argument. TNT’s Inside the NBA reported that the manager was asked to leave — not by the stadium or NBA officials, but rather by his client, Flo Rida.
The Pacers and Heat provided excitement both on and off the court. If Miami can keep their Big Three together then this looks like a playoff rivalry for years to come.
