Tonight’s Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers game was supposed to be a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals. The series was an outright duel during the 2012-13 season, so tonight’s matchup at the end of the 2013-14 season was going to be must-watch TV. Then Larry Bird traded Danny Granger to Philadelphia for Evan Turner, and the Pacers went into flopsville. Miami found itself struggling with injuries and head-scratching performances against lowly teams. Is tonight’s game actually even worth watching? In a word: yes. And you can watch Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers online live free using any number of services.
The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers tip things off at 7:30 EST / 4:30 PST tonight at American Airlines Arena in Miami. Technically speaking it’s a battle of powerhouses, with both teams fighting for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. But both teams enter tonight’s Eastern Conference showdown with a decided limp.
The Pacers have a half-game lead over the Heat in the Eastern Conference standings, a remarkable feat considering Indiana’s slump (collapse?) since the Granger trade. One would think their current half-game lead might grow tonight, as the Heat have dropped two in a row and most recently lost to the Memphis Grizzlies. That embarrassing five-point Wednesday loss came in spite of Lebron James rattling off 37 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
LeBron, however, doesn’t sound overly pressured to reclaim the East’s top seed from Indy.
“It’s not about controlling our destiny with the No. 1 seed,” James told ESPN. “We want to get healthy. That’s all we care about, man, going into the postseason healthy. We’ve got more problems as far as health issues than the No. 1 seed. And if it happens, it happens. We’re going to be excited to get the postseason started. But that’s the least of our worries right now.”
Indeed, health has been Miami’s biggest issue all season. And not just because Greg Oden’s on their team. James has been banged-up for weeks now, and Dwayne Wade has seen his season-long pattern of resting games seem to grow with each passing month. When Wade’s healthy he’s productive. When he’s not, he’s a liability.
True, the Indiana Pacers’ entire starting five had the night off against Milwaukee, but it was a DNP-CD (Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision). The Heat, meanwhile, were missing four rotation players in their Wednesday loss, all due to injuries or illness.
That should all make tonight’s Miami Heat game pretty interesting. How much does the East’s top seed matter? Apparently not as much as getting healthy for the postseason. With that said, even healthy players have to find a rhythm, and without time on the court they may not gain it in time for the playoffs.
And there’s your reason for catching tonight’s Indiana Pacers game live. You can watch Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers online live free on NBATV website if you have the League Pass. The live stream itself is free, though the League Pass costs $60 to watch games from all 30 teams on almost any device — desktop, laptop, tablet, Roku, PS4 or PS3 and Xbox 360. If you want to live stream tonight’s Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers game on an iPhone, you’ll have to get the $12.99 deal and be a Sprint customer. You can also try searching for the game on Justin.tv, although we don’t recommend that method.
