POINT GUARD: George Hill has won the starting job for the Pacers at point guard. He played in 5 games (all starts) for the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 31.8 minutes, 14.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Hill is a shoot first type of point guard, which is going to force the Heat to extend their defense.

Mario Chalmers is a big key for the Heat. When he gets into a good shooting groove, the Heat’s offense really takes off. Chalmers played in 5 games (all starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 36.0 minutes, 11.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

EDGE: EVEN

SHOOTING GUARD: Paul George is a really big guy and that will allow him to back down Dwyane Wade offensively. George played in 5 games (all starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 34.2 minutes, 9.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game. George is going to cause some issues for the Heat’s D in this series.

Dwyane Wade is going to have to change his gameplan a little bit against the Pacers, due to their size all over the court. He might have to settle for more jumpers against the Pacers. Wade played in 5 games (all starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 35.8 minutes, 21.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.8 steals and 1.2 blocked shots per game.

EDGE: HEAT

SMALL FORWARD: Danny Granger’s main job in this series is going to be scoring. He is going to have to attack LeBron James and make him work hard on the defensive end of the court. Granger played in 5 games (all starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 40.6 minutes, 21.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

LeBron James was incredible in the Heat’s first round series against the Knicks. He played in 5 games (all starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 37.8 minutes, 27.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game. James is going to have to be at his best if the Heat are going to win this series.

EDGE: HEAT

POWER FORWARD: David West saved his best basketball for the playoffs as he was rock solid in the first round. He played in 5 games (all starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 39.4 minutes, 15.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. West is going to be important in this series, because the Pacers have to win the battle of the boards to win this series.

Udonis Haslem’s main roles with the Heat in the playoffs are to rebound and play defense. He played in 5 games (all starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 19.0 minutes, 3.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Haslem is likely to be overmatched by West in this series.

EDGE: PACERS

CENTER: Roy Hibbert was a beast in the first round of he playoffs both on the boards and defensively. Hibbert played in 5 games (all starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 29.2 minutes, 11.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 3.8 blocked shots per game. Hibbert will need to control the paint in this series if the Pacers are going to have a good shot at winning this series.

Chris Bosh is likely going to play center in this series. Bosh might have issues against Roy Hibbert, who is an excellent defender. Bosh played 5 games (all starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 33.4 minutes, 15.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He did shoot 51% from the floor in the first round and the Heat need him to shoot like that in this round.

EDGE: EVEN

BENCH: The Pacers have a very, very effective bench. Point guard Darren Collison has seemed to adjust to his new role coming off the bench. Collison played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 18.8 minutes, 8.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. SG/SF Leandro Barbosa brings instant offense off the bench. He played in 5 games (0 starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 23.4 minutes, 6.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Tyler Hansbrough is going to be the first big off the bench for the Pacers and they need him to step up in this round of the playoffs. He played in 5 games (0 starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 17.2 minutes, 3.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. PF/C Louis Amundson is also going to have to throw his weight around a little bit when he’s on the court. He played in 5 games (0 starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 7.4 minutes, 2.8 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.2 assists per game. SG/SF Dahntay Jones is likely to get more action in this round of the playoffs due to his defense. He played in 1 game (0 starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he played five scoreless minutes with 1 steal.

The Heat don’t use the bench a whole lot. SF/SG Shane Battier will be counted on to provide defense and some long range shooting. He played in 5 games (0 starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 27.6 minutes, 6.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steal per game. SG/SF Mike Miller brings offense and long range shooting into the fold when he’s on the court. Miller played in 5 games (0 starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 23.2 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Joel Anthony brings shot blocking and defense on the court when he’s on it. Anthony played in 5 games (0 starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 17.0 minutes, 1.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Small forward James Jones is also a really good shooter off the bench for the Heat. He played in 4 games (0 starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 5.0 minutes, 2.3 points and 0.5 rebounds per game. Rookie Norris Cole has really cooled off after a fast start this year. Cole played in only 3 games (0 starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he averaged 6.0 minutes, 1.3 points and 0.3 rebounds per game. C/PF Ronny Turiaf might get to play more in this series than he did against the Knicks. Turiaf played in 1 game (0 starts) in the first round of the playoffs and he didn’t score, while snatching up 3 rebounds and blocking 1 shot.

EDGE: EVEN

COACHING: Frank Vogel has done an amazing job with the Pacers this year. He led them to a 4-1 series win over the pesky Orlando Magic. The Pacers are now 5-5 (50%) in Vogel’s first two years in the playoffs as a head coach.

No coach is under more pressure to win than Erik Spoelstra of the Heat. He got the Heat to overcome the Knicks 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs. He is now 22-16 (57.9%) as the Heat’s head coach in the playoffs.

EDGE: EVEN

PREDICTION: HEAT IN SEVEN GAMES