Best Plus Minus: Lebron James (+53 in 191 minutes). If I had to guess, Lebron's foul trouble in Game 5 skews his per game numbers down, and probably extended the series by one game. In what was supposed to be a team tailor-made to match Miami, Lebron scored efficiently from the field and produced decent playmaking (by his ridiculously high standards) despite the challenge Paul George and Roy Hibbert were supposed to present.
Worst Plus Minus: Paul George (-30 in 243 minutes). After a whole season of debating whether Paul George belonged in the same class as Lebron and Kevin Durant, the result of the series seemed to be... no, not at this point. One of the best two way players in the game didn't make a noticeable dent in Wade or Lebron's scoring efficiency. A poorly diagnosed concussion may have taken a crucial 4th quarter stretch away from him, but regardless, he didn't seem to find another gear on either side of the floor to meet the Heat's challenge. Hopefully, a year free of runaway rumors will reveal the next evolution of his game.
Series MVP: George Hill (Net +35 in 215 minutes). It's easy to note George Hill's non-traditional point guard role in the Indiana offense and say, "if a true point guard occupied that role, Indiana could have an easier time scoring." However, he's a very good fit for the style of defense they play, and for the structure of offense they run, he played his role fairly well in this series. 44% from three in the series (albeit with a concerning 42% from two), reasonable assist and steal production, and most important of all: only in Games 4 and 6 were the Pacers outscored while he was on the floor.
Series LVP: Mario Chalmers (Net -57 in 166 minutes). I'll never question his role on this Heat team, because after four straight Finals appearances (and two wins so far), he provides something more than his stats suggest. Even more, the competent outside shooting normally required of the Heat's other players, he provided (40% for the series). However, it's hard to ignore the fact that Norris Cole's time in the lineup was far more productive in this series. Do I think that will affect his playing time at all against the Spurs? Absolutely not. Mario Chalmers is definitely capable of swinging a quarter or a half his team's way, and the Heat will probably need one or two of those to beat the Spurs.
Jerome James Award: The World Around The Pacers. No one outside of the locker room can explain what happened to this team over the last few months. It's hard to understand how a lineup that seemed so perfectly constructed, working well for such a prolonged period of time, could suddenly find itself so inept weeks before their most important playoff run. There's a part of me that thinks that, much like Lebron's infamous Game 5 against the Celtics in 2010, we'll never really know what happened here. But the only logical conclusion I can draw from what they showed the last two months is, something must have happened here. I just wonder what it was.
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