The Miami Heat has been the targets of the Indiana Pacers since last year. The Pacers almost got derailed in the playoffs because they were looking ahead to this series. Somehow they're here.

And they no longer had any other series to look forward to. This is the test for Indiana. The road to greatness begins and ends here. And as most observers thought otherwise, they came through!

The Pacers beat the Miami Heat. They had the demeanor of a team that was one game away from the Finals. Actually they had the demeanor of champions. A rather handy 107-96 victory brought the gold-clad Pacers fans to ecstasy.

Are the defending champions worried about this? Not really.

ESPN points out an encouraging statistic: "In the four seasons of the Big Three era, the Heat have lost all three road Game 1s they've played. They've lost four times in Game 1 overall and previously have come back to win every series. This one, though, may require a bit of a different tactic."

Yes, the Heat are unfazed. But it did not mean that they did not accept defeat.

To their credit, the Heat players are not playing the blame

Their statements from Bleacher Report:

"Our defense was unacceptable," Bosh said. 

"That's probably us at our worst defensively," Spoelstra said. 

Battier pointed to collective indecisiveness. 

"We were aggressive at the wrong times, and we were passive other times. We were in between mindsets the entire game. And as a result, I thought they really dictated what was going to happen on the pick-and-roll, versus what we do when dictate what teams do against us."

Erik Spoelstra is an underrated coach. The Pacers really made it a goal to take homecourt advantage, believing that it spelled the difference in their series last season. Now, they have it and they have a 1-0 advantage. Spoelstra will not mention his feelings about that. He'll just make the adjustments.

And his team will have his back, specifically LeBron James.

From ESPN: "We gave them too many points in the first quarter. We'll be more mentally prepared for their actions."

Game 2 is still at Indiana, Tuesday, May 20 at 8:30pm EST.