On Wednesday, the defending champion Miami Heat will host the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Championship. Game time is set at 8:30PM ET and will be held at the AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Indiana Pacers will try to dethrone the Miami Heat when they face again in a best of 7 series for the Eastern Conference Championship. Last season, the Pacers was able to stole the home court advantage and had the series advantage when Heat forward Chris Bosh sustained an abdominal strain.
It was the Pacers' chance to pounce on Miami while Bosh was sidelined. However, the Heat reinvented themselves into a small ball team which made life difficult for the Pacers' towering front line. Miami's lineup created a lot of mismatches during the series and eventually won their 2nd NBA title.
The Miami Heat has a bull's eye on their back after they won an NBA title last season. Every NBA team wants to play with them and possibly dethrone the champions. Miami is not a perfect team, they also commits mistakes and sometimes plays lousy coming off a long rest.
If the Pacers want to score an upset win, they must start the game with a lot of intensity and focus for 48 minutes. However, if they failed to contain the energy and determination that James, Wade and Bosh that will bring in every game, Indiana would have a rude awakening.
The sportsbook handicappers have installed the Miami Heat as an 8-point favorite to beat the Pacers in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Championship.
SportsBet ®
your source for betting information