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| Paul George has proven Lebron's equal and more, coming up with huge clutch plays like his ridiculous dunk on Lebron and Chris Anderson. |
In the final 45 seconds of Game 2, Lebron makes two bad plays, turning the ball over to the Pacers, essentially choking away the game.
On one possession, with Indiana up 95-93, David West intercepted a pass that James was throwing to Ray Allen with 43 seconds left, pushed the ball into the frontcourt before giving the ball to George Hill.
While the Pacers didn't get a shot off, resulting in a 24 second violation, the clock had ticked all the way down to 17.7 seconds.
And that set the stage for the Return of LeChoke.
Lebron received the ball on an easy throw in at the top of the key, guarded by Paul George. Lebron James, put his shoulder down and drove to the right block, saw the 7' 2" Roy Hibbert coming to help, spun and travelled (not called by the referees), and then in desperation, tried jump passing out toward the perimeter.
The pass went to no one, just an area, and David West got to the area first, knocking the ball off-course with his right hand for his second steal in the final minute of the game. Indiana was able to extend the lead to four on two George Hill free throws.
Despite the great effort of the visiting Indiana Pacers, the win was not yet sealed. With nearly 8 seconds left, the Heat could hit a three with Indiana being called for a foul for a four point play. The Pacers played a disciplined defense resulting in a Chris Bosh miss.
The Miami Heat referees made one final attempt to steal the game for their team, calling the rebound off the Chris Bosh miss off of Indiana, awarding the ball and another opportunity to Miami with under two seconds, however the rule requiring video review of out-of-bounds calls in the final minutes mandated that the biased call be overturned. The Indiana Pacers were able to run out the final ticks of the clock to seal the victory, despite the referees bias.
Here are highlights of GAME 2 of the EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS:
And in case you missed the PLAY OF THE GAME, Paul George blowing by Lebron James and then dunking on Chris Anderson, here is the video (it's even ridiculous in Russian!).
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Now that the Indiana Pacers have fairly wrestled home court away from the Miami Heat (just like the Chicago Bulls did in the second round), watch for the Miami Heat referees to hook the Miami CHeat up with some opportune 4th quarter non-calls when the Pacers work the ball inside, or on Pacer offensive rebounds. And really watch closely for Roy Hibbert, who starred in Game 2 with 29 points 10 rebounds, to battle foul trouble during the rest of the series; it is the biggest way the referees and the league can help the Miami Heat, who have no answer for Indiana's size, get into the NBA Finals. If you disagree with the NBA practice of "Superstar Calls" and the NBA's efforts to keep teams other than the Miami Heat from reaching the NBA Finals, then please join THE NBA MIAMI HEAT BOYCOTT!
