Years from now, when we look back on the 2013 NBA Playoffs, on the Indiana Pacers' second round victory over their arch-rival, the New York Knicks, it won't be remembered for a single sequence (like '8 points in 9 seconds') or a single stellar game. No, when we're discussing this game five, ten, twenty years from now, the enduring moment of this series will be what came after-the-fact, after the Pacers' series-clinching game six victory when all five Indiana starters had a shared "podium game."
As customary in these playoffs, the duties of speaking to the media after the game fall on the "star" of that particular game. In beating (and beating up, in some cases) the Knicks, the Pacers underscored what has come to be their calling card all year: defense, rebounding and a total team effort. Thus, after the final buzzer, when it came to that time of the night, it wasn't just going to be Roy Hibbert (21 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, including this*) or George Hill (made four straight free throws to ice it) or David West (17 points, some beautiful dimes in the fourth) or Paul George (23 points, stellar fourth quarter defense on a red-hot Carmelo Anthony) or even Lance "Born Ready" Stephenson (playoff career-high 25 points, 9 in the last five minutes**, 10 rebounds, some absolutely ferocious forays to the hoop). It was all of them up there, answering questions from the assembled media members about how they as a unit came together, grew together and succeeded together. All of them had a hand in leading the team to the next round.
After beginning the season without Danny Granger, the team's leading scorer the previous four years, the question of who would emerge to lead the team was a legitimate concern. Candidates were aplenty. There was rising star George, set to inherit most of Granger's responsibilities on the wing. There was the elder statesman, West. Then there were the two players whom the Pacers spent a lot of money on the past off-season, Hibbert and Hill. Which one of them would become the team's star?
Who would take the driver's seat and command the most attention and scrutiny?
Who would step up?
"Pacers, who?"
Collectively, they answered: "We."
The Indiana Pacers are now in the Eastern Conference Finals. Awaiting them are the defending-champion Miami Heat, led by the best player in the game today, LeBron James. Last year, the Heat and the Pacers faced off in the Eastern Semifinals, with Miami eliminating the young and brash Indiana upstarts in six games. James in particular submitted an epic performance in that series, going for 40-18-9-2-2*** in a game four victory in Indianapolis. With a player like that, it truly will take a total team effort to overcome such greatness. Add to that the Heat's homecourt advantage, it is an uphill climb, but it is one challenge their coach, Frank Vogel, is eager to meet.
Asked about the Heat, Vogel plainly said, "They are just the next team in our way." And should the Pacers continue to play their team-oriented game, who knows, we might just have another podium moment to look back fondly on.
*Of course, if fans chose to associate this series with this image, I'm all for it.
**Notice a trend? Clutch performances all around.
***With numbers like that, do you really need to know which one is points, which one is rebounds, etc.?
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