The Indiana Pacers will look to take a commanding 2-0 lead when they host the Miami Heat in game two of their Eastern Conference Finals series on Tuesday night at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The top-seeded Pacers silenced their critics on Sunday after scoring an impressive 107-96 win over the Heat, leading from start to finish to protect their homecourt.
Paul George led the Pacers in the series-opener, tallying 24 points to go along with seven assists and four rebounds, while Roy Hibbert and David West added 19 points apiece.
George is confident that they can finally get the monkey off their backs this year after losing the Heat in their last two playoff series, but the All-Star forward is not expecting things to be easy, especially on Tuesday night.
"We know we're playing against the champions, the two-time champions," George said via ESPN. "We know they're going to come out and make adjustments. Everything we did (Sunday) has got to be that much more in Game 2 in order for us to move on."
Heat superstar LeBron James, who tallied 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds and five assists in game one, vowed to be more aggressive in game two, saying that he will put a lot of pressure on the Pacers' defense.
"My approach is the same every game, try to put pressure on the defense, try to get to the free-throw line to help us win," James said. "I got to the rim, I got my shots going, but I've got to do a little more, too."
George said, though, that he will be ready to prevent James from taking over as he tries to take advantage of his familiarity with the four-time MVP. George has faced James and the Heat for 15 times over the past two years.
"He (James) will shoulder everything. I think he's going to be much more aggressive with the ball," George said. "I think he's going to be looking to make more plays, looking to shoot more shots and really looking to get guys going. It's going to be a tough night for me, but that's part of the league."
The Heat-Pacers showdown is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. EST and will be broadcasted live by ESPN. Live stream will also be available via WatchESPN.
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