The Miami Heat. Awe inspiring

Just a couple days ago yours truly thought the Miami Heat might be in trouble against the Indiana Pacers. Indiana was undefeated at home in the playoffs so far this year, and they seemed to match up pretty well against the Heat. And then Lebron and Co went into Indianapolis and...

Put on a jaw-dropping performance. Seventy points in the first half alone on 63% shooting, with only one turnover? Tell ya what. No team, from any place, in any era, in the history of the game could withstand an onslaught like that. 70 points in the first half against a defensive minded physical team? Incredible.

It wasn't that Indiana was that bad. They actually played fairly well. And most everybody acknowledges that when Miami gets on a roll, they're really good. But coming out of the gate in this game, the Heat kicked it up to a level that I'm not sure has ever been seen before. They were THAT good.

Whether or not Miami can sustain that level of play in subsequent games remains to be seen, but notice has definitely been served. When those guys get it going on all cylinders -- look out.

Yours truly earlier wondered how Miami would react after having been defeated in their own building in Game 2. The Pacers were confident.

Then the Heat rolled into Indianapolis and rung the bell like Quasimodo on steroids in Game 3. Now it remains to be seen how the Pacers will respond after such a thumping in their own house.

Hard to say. Indiana might bounce back to win Game 4 to make it interesting again. Regardless, the Pacers lost home court advantage, and to win the series will have to win yet another game in Miami -- no small feat.

Then again, if the Heat take off in warp drive for the next game with all phasors and photo torpedos blazing like they did in this one, well..... they WERE the favorites -- right?

I haven't seen anything that good since Angelena dumped Brad and was on her knees begging for my private company. And then I woke up. I HATE it when that happens. The waking up part, that is.

But the Heat are no dream. They're very real, and unless they slack off or Indiana figures out something very soon, there will be no waking up from that nightmare.

This series could still get interesting, but somehow I suspect how it's going to turn out is pretty much a foregone conclusion.