The Indiana Pacers look to even the series Friday night against the Miami Heat. The Pacers, who lost Game 1 by a single point at the buzzer, are hungrier than ever to match up against LeBron James and the Heat.
Tipoff is on Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET. You can watch it HERE.
Game 1 featured a physical, back-and-forth game. There were 35 ties or lead changes. It took Miami the final two seconds of overtime to come away with a one-point victory, 103-102. Indiana, however, isn't demoralized by the narrow defeat, according to the Associated Press.
"Our belief has been strengthened," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said to reporters.
Miami, the favorite to win the series, didn't power past the Pacers like they have done to other teams this postseason. Although Indiana's young team has virtually no experience playing in a conference final, Vogel is "very encouraged" by his team's Game 1 performance.
"Our belief in our ability to beat this team has strengthened after Game 1," he said. "Our familiarity in the playoffs, in the playoff series grows with each day, grows with each game, and there's a lot of things we can definitely do better."
The Heat aren't content with barely escaping the American Airlines Arena with a win. Miami All-Star Chris Bosh knows the team will have to limit their turnovers and match Indiana's league-best rebounding efforts.
"We're going to play a lot better. We've come to expect that of ourselves," Bosh told reporters on Thursday. "We know that yesterday wasn't the championship effort that we need in order to win the series, let alone win the finals. We're going to have to do a much better job on defense and on offense to take care of the basketball, do a better job on the boards, do a better job of containing some of their actions."
James recorded a triple-double in his herculean effort to win. His last-second driving layup earned Miami the victory and notched another legendary moment in the four-time MVP's career.
Miami will come out hungry to quell any notion Indiana might have of winning the series. The Heat see the horizon and are only three games away now from returning for a third straight year to the NBA Finals.
