Heat Even Series, Cavaliers Win Lottery (AGAIN), Charlotte is Hornets (AGAIN)

That's more like what we expected. A low scoring, grinding battle in the Eastern Conference Finals.  After a surprisingly fluid game one, game two featured a much slower pace. The Heat evened the series at one game apiece as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade scored Miami's final 20 points of the game, and 22 of their 25 fourth quarter points in all.

The key stretch happened with under four minutes to play, when James made a jumper late in the shot clock to give a Heat a three point lead. He forced a turnover on the other end, and Wade dunked home James' miss in transition to put them up five with 3:17 to go. Another turnover and Wade basket essentially ended the game, as the Pacers simply could not muster enough offense late in the game to finish it off.

For the Pacers, Lance Stephenson had a big game, with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, but scored only 2 points in the fourth quarter. The Pacers two best scorers, Paul George and David West combined to shoot 9-32 and score 24 points, which wasn't nearly enough. The Pacers dominated the offensive glass, and shot 9-19 from three, but they couldn't overcome Miami's overall shooting advantage (50% to 40%).

The series heads to Miami even at one. Game three is not until Saturday night, so both teams have a chance to rest and figure out what adjustments they have to make.

Tonight's game

Thunder at Spurs
8:00 pm Central 
TNT

The Spurs dominated the game one match up with incredibly efficient offense against any lineup the Thunder threw out on the floor. They could not stop the Spurs from getting good looks in the paint, and the Spurs scored 66 points inside.  WIthout Serge Ibaka, it's very difficult to see how the Thunder are going to be able to consistently get stops against the high level ball movement employed by the Spurs.

At the other end, the Thunder need something from their starters not named Westbrook and Durant. Perkins, Sefolosha, and Collison combined to score five points in game one, and although they got scoring contributions off the bench from Reggie Jackson and Derek Fisher, they need more from their starting unit.

Notes

• Cleveland again. The Cavs won the lottery for the third time in four years, this time moving up from the 9th spot to snag the #1 overall pick. The Bucks and 76ers will pick 2nd and 3rd.
• In case you missed it, Glen Taylor said they are not planning to trade Kevin Love this summer. Of course, he sounded less than convincing.
• The Charlotte franchise has officially changed its name from the Bobcats back to the Hornets, which is much better. They had the chance to do so after New Orleans, the original Hornets from Charlotte, changed names to the more regionally appropriate Pelicans, leaving Hornets available.