The NBA Playoffs are an intense battle between teams and the series between the Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat has been just that, as Chris Andersen and Tyler Hansbrough showed in Game 5 when the two nearly came to blows.
Both Andersen and Hansbrough are tough players and can be chippy at times and in Game 5 at one point Andersen went hard at Hansbrough and ended up getting called with a double technical and a flagrant foul on Birdman. Andersen is the perfect player for the Heat as he is a banger and the type of player that was missing from the team in the past couple years. Andresen can look strange with his tattoos and hair but his work on the court is what matters to LeBron James and that could be the difference in Game in Indiana.
The Heat have proven they can win on the road against the Pacers after doing it in Game 3 after losing twice there during the regular season and now that they are up 3-2 in the finals they can close things out to advance against the Spurs. James has history with the Spurs after getting swept in the finals with the Cavs and he will be happy to have a tough guy like Andersen on his side when that happens if they advance. Andersen definitely wanted some contact with Hansbrough and heading into the next game there is a good chance the two will go at it again.
Following the fight the Pacers went on a 5-0 run so that didn't help much, but his size on the inside will be big for the Heat going forward and the toughness is hard to measure. At one point Birdman was perfect from the field in the playoffs and he had a couple huge defensive plays that helped Miami and his blocking and rebounding ability will be one of the biggest reasons they make it to the finals if they can win and advance.
