Bird Drama?

Game five between the Heat-Pacers was billed to be one for the ages.  Instead we leave game five talking about three hard fouls, possible suspensions, and the "Legend" himself calling out his young team.  The Pacers looked tired from the start and the Heat's duo of James and Wade punished the meager Pacers into submission by the end of the third quarter.  The final result ended in a 115-83 beat down where James and Wade combined for 58 points, giving the Heat a 3-2 series lead.

After the game Pacers President Larry Bird called out his club; via the Indianapolis Star, "I can't believe my team went soft."  Bird went on to spell it out, "S-O-F-T." "I'm disappointed.  I never thought it would happen."

This is not the first time Bird has called out his team.  As a player and member of the Boston Celtics he did a similar thing, calling out his teammates during the 1984 NBA Finals against the LA Lakers.  The Celtics would go on to win that series in seven and Bird would be named the Finals MVP. 

Obviously it is 2012 and this is only the conference semis, but there is no doubt Bird said these things as a means to get his players fired up for game six.  The primary reason being that the Pacers looked completely flat and never really gave the Heat anything to worry about in game five. 

The other reason has to do with the fact that following Tyler Hansbrough's flagrant 1 foul on Dwyane Wade, the Pacers would go on to get whacked twice and give no response.  Udonis Haslem retaliated on Hansbrough the next play, a foul so hard Haslem should have been tossed from the game.  Later in the fourth quarter the Heat's Dexter Pittman gave shot to the throat of Indiana's Lance Stephenson.  These two take downs by the Heat following Hansbrough's initial one, showed that Miami was over the "we're not scared of you" image the Pacers had portrayed through four games.

Now we won't know if any suspensions will linger from Miami's physical play on Tuesday night and we also won't know if Bird's comments will motivate his team enough to even the series at home either.  From the looks of everything this series has shown us so far, it seems now as if the Heat are ready to move on.  The Pacers' "act" is dead and James and Wade appear to be clicking again.  The Heat should put the Pacers away in game six on Thursday night and allow Bird to head off into the sunset as the Executive of the Year and have his comments soon forgotten.  No drama here.

Western Conference Finals Pick:

Spurs over Thunder 4-2