Facing another close-out game against the Miami Heat, can the Indiana Pacers rely on Paul George to match his Game 5 heroics? Will Roy Hibbert show his Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde side on offense and defense? Will Lance Stephenson “blow” another opportunity to show he’s more than another talented headcase? Or, will LeBron James take the fate of Game 6 into his own hands rather than kick it out to Chris Bosh for a three? And will Dwayne Wade and the rest of the Heat will their win to a fourth straight NBA Finals? You can find out if you watch Heat vs Pacers Game 6 online free in various ways.
The Miami Heat lead the series 3-2 going into tonight’s Game 6 and will advance to the NBA Finals with a win. LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and the rest of the Heat would rather face the OKC Thunder if they make it to the Finals, though the see-saw battle in the West last night swung decidedly in San Antonio’s direction. The Heat are clearly in the driver’s seat, but with the Pacers showing signs of life in Game 5, tonight’s Heat – Pacers game could go in Indy’s direction and force a deciding Game 7 this weekend.
The drama in this series has hit on many levels, but the theatrics of this year’s Eastern Conference Finals have lived and died with the Pacers’ Stephenson. The Pacers’ chief “buffoon” (according to Ray Allen) followed-up his “sign of weakness” statement about LeBron James before Game 4 by blowing into King James’ ear in Game 5. Stephenson’s been discussed more in this series for his antics than his gameplay stats, but that may just change in tonight’s Heat – Pacers Game 6.
Stephenson is averaging 14.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists in the series against the Heat. Those are decent stats, but his behavior is hampering the team’s focus more than his stats are improving the Pacers’ results in the win column.
Pacers GM Larry Bird reportedly met with Stephenson yesterday and laid into him for his ear-blowing antics in the Pacers’ 93-90 Game 5 victory. Stephenson was also fined $10,000 for his second flopping offense of the playoffs and tried to eavesdrop on Miami coach Erik Spoelstra during a Heat team huddle. If craziness is truly no longer an option in tonight’s Game 6, Stephenson will have nothing left to do but improve his on-court game.
That may very well be a necessity as LeBron James will come out firing tonight. James finished Game 5 with seven points, four assists, two rebounds and three turnovers after spending most of the game in foul trouble. James has finished with five or six fouls just 11 times in his entire career. There’s little question that he’ll therefore come out motivated in Game 6 to avoid foul trouble and close-out the series.
The Pacers’ Paul George scored 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting in Game 4, following it up with a brilliant 37-point in Game 5. Most of those 37 points came in the second half, though, and George can ill afford to be forced to pull a rabbit out of his hat for the second game in a row.
History seems to be on Miami’s side in tonight’s Heat – Pacers game. Oddly, this is a fact that some Indy fans don’t necessarily mind. In many respects, they’d like to put this crazy season behind them. With the Spurs-Thunder series still going on, you can bet Miami would also like to close it out tonight and get an extra day or two of rest. Perhaps everyone will get their wish.
Tonight’s Heat vs Pacers Game 6 is set to tipoff at 8:30 EST / 5:30 PST on ESPN. You can watch Heat vs Pacers Game 6 online free on ESPN‘s website, the ESPN mobile app and on the ESPN app on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Using any of those tools requires you to subscribe to ESPN, though. Another option is to watch tonight’s Heat vs Pacers game on VIP Box, which has neither the HD quality nor the reliability of ESPN’s browser-based, app-based or broadcast presentations.
