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The Miami Heat blew out Indiana, 117-92, and thus are back in the finals. This means that Shane Battier, who will surprise everyone if he doesn't retire after the season, has a chance to go out with his third NBA title.
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As far as ACC players go, Michael Jordan has six titles, Tim Duncan has four, James Worthy and Scott Williams have three, so Battier would be in good company.
The series with Indiana was, depending on your perspective, either marred or made more entertaining by Indiana's Lance Stephenson. Between blowing in LeBron James' ear or jumping into Miami's huddle.
Larry Bird has had enough, and whatever else you can say about Stephenson, he does respect his boss.
He better. This has been a weird season for the Pacers. Roy Hibbert completely disappeared for part of the playoffs and Stephenson's antics were distracting. We wouldn't be at all surprised if Bird shook things up considerably when all is said and done. He's a very loyal guy, but he's also dedicated to winning, and guys who don't get that won't stay around for long.
As usual, Battier was reliable in a big game: he came off the bench for 22 minutes, played solid, smart defense as always and scored eight points, shooting 2-3 from three point range and 2-2 from the line.
As much fun as the no-stat All-Star has been, he's the rare player who will generate more interest about what he's going to do next. We can't wait to find out.