Costly turnovers prove to be the deciding factor once again. We saw a good demonstration of the fine line between winning and losing with LeBron's performance in that one. He was phenomenal throughout, 36 points on a blistering 14/20 from the field, grabbing rebounds and making a few assists as he's always one to do, while boldly taking charge down the stretch. There wasn't much he did wrong, but unfortunately for the Heat, a couple of his rare mistakes of the evening came at the worst possible time. It just goes to show how these things happen to the best of the best, not just overwhelmed rookies and role players.
Lance Stephenson is a very intriguing player. There's obviously a fair amount of talent there and he played a significant part in the Pacers' victory, but he also came pretty close to playing a significant role in costing them the game. He definitely needs to calm down a little and make better decisions. When he's playing well, the Pacers can and probably will live with a bad play here or there, but there are some bad habits that he needs to kick. Of course, the same thing was once said about Rajon Rondo and several other players who became perennial All-Stars or at least significant players in the league, so it's far too early to write him off. He's got a lot of promise.
Great game, these first two contests have set up what should turn out to be a great series. Indiana still let a golden opportunity slip away when they dropped game one as they could be heading home up 2-0 now, but they're looking good and getting the split is always big when you're the lower seed. I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves, I still see Miami prevailing in the series, but the Pacers don't look like they're about to go quietly into the night.
Finally, this was awesome:
