Teams, storyline very different when Pacers and Heat get together

The Pacers and Heat square off Wednesday night down in Miami. The intrigue, however, is gone for the most part as both teams are without their best player.

LeBron James, of course, returned home to Cleveland. He brought James Jones and Mike Miller with him. The Pacers are without the services of Paul George, who is a little more than 100 days removed from surgery to repair an open tibia-fibula fracture.

Sidelined, too, for the Pacers are David West, George Hill, and C.J. Watson from last year’s team, plus newcomers Rodney Stuckey and C.J. Miles. Miles’ time off the floor is the most baffling. They said last Friday that he was dealing with a migraine. I know from experience those typically last a day. It has now been six, and symptoms are still there for him. It’s unclear whether it’s part of a bigger issue.

“We’re hoping not,” head coach Frank Vogel said Tuesday. “He still has some symptoms. They’ve done a bunch of testing just to make sure there’s nothing else going on.”

With a number of injuries, the Pacers have limped into the regular season. They are, however, coming off their second win. They snapped a six-game losing streak on Monday by topping Gordon Hayward’s Utah Jazz.

“We’ve been saying all along we’re playing well enough to win,” said Vogel. “We have enough to win. We haven’t seen the payoff, so to get a W does a lot for our confidence.

“We have to go down [into Miami] and be greedy.”

That’s Vogel’s message. He wrote that on the dry-erase board prior to Tuesday’s practice.

When I asked Roy Hibbert, who’s been an integral part of the last 20 or so meetings over the last three years, he downplayed it. (Quotes from his 80-second interview with reporters could not have been less interesting.)

“It’s just a game. The next game on the schedule,” was all Roy Hibbert offered. Gee, thanks Roy.

While the Heat lost James, an irreplaceable player, they added former Pacers Josh McRoberts, who’s done just OK off the bench, and Danny Granger. Granger is dealing with a hamstring issue and has yet to play in a regular-season game. Sound familiar?

He signed with the Heat for $4.2 million, and it’ll surely be his final contract. His mind wants to play but his body is now damaged goods. It surprised, and frankly disappointed me to read the following comments from him talking negatively about the Pacers’ training staff. He’s the first one I know of to ever do so. After nine seasons with them, too.

Danny Granger on his hamstring injury: “The good thing about Miami is they won’t put you on the floor on a half leg or hobbling.”

— Jason Lieser (@PBPjasonlieser) November 7, 2014

Danny Granger on his hamstring injury: “In years past, I would have played and been limited, but they don’t do that here, which is good.”

— Jason Lieser (@PBPjasonlieser) November 7, 2014

If that’s truly how he feels, I do appreciate the honesty. Granger isn’t expected to take the floor Wednesday against his former team.

The Heat are 5-2 in the young season, good for the third-best conference record behind Toronto and Chicago. Chris Bosh, now on a maximum contract, lead the team with 23.6 points per game, followed by a mostly healthy Dwyane Wade and offseason-pickup Luol Deng. One of the more surprising items with Miami is that Pacers’ first-round pick in 2006, Shawne Williams, has started in all seven games and is averaging 10.1 points per game. Maybe, hopefully, he finally got his head on straight and has kept away from his posse that was holding him back.

Back to the Pacers, who have had a difficult time holding onto the ball in the first seven games. They did so in the eighth, on Monday (with just seven), and they returned to the win column. No team can consistently win giving the ball away more than 18 times a game like they were.

“Definitely keeping the turnovers down,” starter Donald Sloan quickly said when asked the key to winning consistently. “I think it would help to make shots, too. For the most part, just paying attention to the details; I think that is where we really lack.”

Sloan was on the team last year that lost to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, again, but now he’s leading the team in minutes with both G. Hill and Watson sitting.

“They still have a nice group,” Sloan said of the Heat, “but definitely a lot different than last year, as we are.

The Pacers, who have six keys players on the injury list, just concluded a challenging stretch playing five games in seven days. Tuesday, the team had a rare practice day and the items covered resembled that of training camp: continuity within the offense, make sure guys are in the right spots, and different reads, Sloan explained. Like camp because of so many new faces, and the last of real practice time over the last two weeks.

Late last week, Indiana did add A.J. Price via the NBA’s hardship waiver, and he’s provided a nice boost as backup point guard. He tallied 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting in Monday’s win. The reality, however, is that unless they satisfy the requirements for the waiver once again — four players missing three games or more — Price will be gone after the weekend’s games.

Before the season, the appeal of this game is obvious and thus ESPN picked it up. Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, and J.A. Adande have the call (7:30 p.m. ET), but it’ll still be available locally on FOX Sports Indiana.

“They got a lot of horses, a similar style, very well-coached obviously, and their record shows that,” Vogel said of Miami.

But it’s a different matchup. A very, VERY different matchup.

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