On the night LeBron James picked up his MVP trophy, his third, the Miami Heat rolled over the Indiana Pacers to win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. James certainly lived up the hardware with 32 points and 15 rebounds. Dwyane Wade added another 29 points in the effort.
Over at Peninsula Is Mightier, SB Nation's Heat blog, the play of James and Wade got dissected a little further following the win by Diego Quezada.
Miami's two superstars played superbly in the second half against a team with a pretty big frontcourt. James and Wade actually outscored the entire Indiana team after intermission by themselves; they scored 42 points while the Pacers only managed 38. The Heat managed to go into the fourth quarter knotted with Indiana at 70 before making a quick run to gain a lead the Heat would never relinquish.
The night's other notable development was a down note, the loss of Chris Bosch to an abdominal injury late in the first half. Despite the absence of one-third of the team's superstar trinity, the Heat found a way, as explained by Quezada at Peninsula Is Mightier.
In Bosh's absence, Ronny Turiaf and Joel Anthony used their effort and intensity to help inject some life into the Heat. Turiaf started the second half and had two thunderous dunks in the third quarter. On the flip side, Turiaf did miss all four of his free throws. Anthony scored nine points and grabbed seven boards in 24 minutes, catching passes, finishing at the rim and grabbing some of the "50-50 balls."
The series continues with Game 2 on Tuesday night in Miami.
For more Heat coverage and discussion, check out Peninsula Is Mightier. Keep up with all the series action with this StoryStream, and be sure to check out SB Nation's NBA hub.