Pacers still provide strong test for Heat

Don't be fooled by their record of 19-18. The Pacers are still going to challenge for the East title and will definetly still make the playoffs. The 'BasketBrawl in Detroit' may have slowed down both Detroit and Indy, but rest assured that both teams will have plenty of weapons to overcome the adversity.

Tonight, the Pacers come to face Miami in a nationally televised game down at the AAA in what seems to be a fight among contenders. Jermaine O'Neal is already back as is Anthony Johnson (and Stephen Jackson will be back January 27th). But it is obviously the return of O'neal that means the most to this team and he has helped put Indiana back on track immediately. The Pacers were 5-10 without him but are 8-5 since his return.

The Heat will be faced with a strong test tonight and definetly are aware of this. "Their record is a result of what happened in the brawl," Van Gundy said. "But they're going to get close to whole again, and they'll be a major force."

The Pacers remain very talented and deep and will try to expose the Heat's weakness of rebounding. Van Gundy has been critical of the Heat's efforts in this area. "Right now, I think we rely way too much on one guy to rebound the ball," Van Gundy said, referring to O'Neal. "If you look down the league stats and look at rebounds on a per-minute basis, Shaq's good at his position...But everyone else is middle-of-the-pack or lower, particularly at the defensive end. Everyone else is way down. We have to get more guys involved on the boards, and we have to get more guys taking responsibility to rebound the ball and not leave it to one guy...We just don't have a lot of guys in there mixing it up and grabbing the ball." You can be assured that Jermaine O'Neal will look to bang down low against the Heat's power forward rotation of Haslem and Laettner.

The question is, will the Heat respond and put forth the energy and intensity necessary to dominate this game like they should? The fact is Indiana is still a strong team but not nearly as strong as before the Detroit incident. With no Artest and no Jackson, will the Heat slacken in their focus for tonight's game? If Van Gundy has his say, the Heat will be ready and waiting for the Pacers tonight. On the line is the Heat's 21-2 record against Eastern Conference foes and a shot to stay ahead in the standings and hold on to that home court ticket throughout the playoffs. A lot has changed in a year.