BBallBreakdown.com delivers a fantastic look at how the Pacers succeeded in Game 1. Taking advantage of short pick n rolls and forcing LeBron James to play the roll of pick defender created several scoring opportunities. The video also shows several open threes generated by first getting the ball inside before it found a shooter waiting behind the arc.
The Pacers certainly started the game shooting well from the perimeter, but those shots should never be passed up. David West often raises the issue of passive offense and not taking good shots when they are available as a problem. After Game 1, West only noticed a couple of instances of his teammates passing up good looks.
George Hill certainly leads the team in hesitating and missing out on good looks this season, but he lead the aggressive attack from the opening possession of the game on Sunday, taking and making those shots generated by the quality ball movement.
There's no doubt the Heat will try to ramp up their aggressive defense, in an effort to find trap opportunities to force the Pacers into more turnovers for easy scoring chances. Several sweet passes for buckets by the Pacers in Game 1 were right on the fine line between sweet and sour, mere inches from being turnovers. Moving a shade to the wrong side of precise will create problems for the Pacers, but problems will also ensue if they don't remain committed to attacking the Heat's aggressiveness as a counter.
There will be adjustments from both sides heading into Game 2 which makes this such an intriguing series. Paul George talked about expecting a more physical game that will require more mental toughness from the Pacers. He also expects the Heat to take a page from Game 3 last year and try to post LeBron and Dwyane Wade more often.
Mucking things up in the post may be a solid move by the Heat which would force PG to play quite smart to avoid further foul trouble. Coach Nick also looked at what he thought was a poor offensive effort from Miami in Game 1. Check it out here.