NBA 2013-14: Do the Indiana Pacers have what it takes to dethrone Miami Heat?

The Pacers have their own Big 3 to compete with the Heat’s

The Pacers’ Big 3

Through constant growth the Pacers have slowly come to rely on three players each game. Those three players change each game but almost every match there have been three star performers who have together lifted the team to victory.

Although Paul George might be far behind when it comes to actually receiving the regular season MVP award, his name coming up in the Top 5 of the MVP race says a lot about the improvement of the player. Calling his offensive brilliance entertaining would be an understatement, with his 360 windmill dunk already an early candidate for ‘dunk of the year’.

A favourite to win the Most Improved Player of the Year award, Lance Stephenson currently leads the league in number of triple doubles for this season. While Hibbert gets his due for manning the paint and George is named in the MVP talks, Stephenson does all the little things that make the Pacers go.

West and Hibbert share the spoils and alternate among one another for the third spot on Pacers’ Big 3. As a team they have transformed into a much better two-way team.

Bench better equipped this season

No one from the Pacers’ management would agree with the argument that they lost the Conference Finals last Playoffs in a battle of the benches with the Heat, but it’s true.

This season, however, Larry Bird has made sure the Pacers do not come up short in that area with a trade on the final day of the mid-season window that brings Philadelphia 76ers’ Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen to Indiana in exchange for long-time Pacer Danny Granger.

With Turner they are certain to receive consistent offensive production off the bench and in Allen they receive an additional post player who can play both the 3 and 4 spot.

On their day, the Pacers’ bench can give the Heat starters a run for their money but all head coach Frank Vogel needs from them is to keep the lead if they have one or chip away at the lead if they are trailing. Going ahead into the post-season the bench play becomes a major factor in a team winning it all.

The final question to be answered is: do the Pacers have it in them?

Their roster certainly lacks nothing but star players, veterans and bench strength at their disposal to go along with a great defensive-minded coach.

It is quite certain who the Conference Finalists in the East would be, with the Pacers and Heat having a big lead over the rest of the teams. While we may not have the answer to the question yet, the showdown in May certainly promises to be a cracker.