LeBron James and Dwayne Wade have had to almost literally transform into Batman and Robin over the past two games to recapture the series lead for the Miami Heat against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals after they fell into an early 2-1 deficit in the series.
The dynamic duo have had to carry an unusually large amount of the team's offense during the absence of Chris Bosh, who went down during the opening game of the series with an abdominal strain.
LeBron has posted otherworldly numbers over the past two games, both of which have been Heat victories. He has totaled 70 points, 28 rebounds, and 17 assists.
Meanwhile, Wade has dropped in 58 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists. Both of them have shot well over 50% from the field as well.
But while James and Wade have been playing at close to the best of their abilities, the Heat will need even more from them in Game 6 if they want to finish off this upstart Pacers team on the road and avoid having to go back to South Beach for a seventh and deciding game.
Both Udonis Haslem and Dexter Pittman have been suspended for flagrant fouls in the previous game of the series.
Haslem will only miss Game 6 for clubbing Indiana forward Tyler Hansbrough in the face with both arms in retaliation for a hard foul committed only a minute earlier by Hanbrough on Wade.
Pittman, meanwhile, will miss the Heat's next three games after delivering a seemingly intentional elbow to the neck/chest region of Lance Stephenson late in the game in retaliation for Stephenson's choke signal he flashed after LeBron missed a free throw late in the heat's Game 3 loss.
With Bosh already ruled out for tonight's game, and Haslem and Pittman both out with suspensions, the Heat will likely have to rely heavily on Juwan Howard and Eddy Curry, who haven't seen much (or any in Curry's case) playing time so far in this series.
One of the main reasons for Miami's losses in Games 2 and 3 of the series was the fact that LeBron would be worn down by halftime after having to play so many minutes at power forward, causing him to have to bang around in the paint with bigger players than he isn't used to guarding regularly.
If the Heat have to put James at power forward for too many minutes in Game 6, they will likely find themselves having to win a pivotal Game 7 back down in South Beach.
Afterall, if James continues to wear himself out at this pace, it won't matter too much if they advance because he won't have enough left in the tank to go the distance all the way through the Finals.
Luckily for Miami, the Pacers' two best players are dealing with ankle injuries heading into the game and their availability and conditions are still largely unknown.
Danny Granger, who injured his ankle late in the first half of Game 5, and David West, who hurt his own ankle in the second half of the same game, have been two of the most pivotal pieces in Indiana's surprising run.
Unless LeBron James puts on another performance for the ages for a third consecutive game, however, the Heat are probably going to have their hands full finishing off the Pacers on their own floor.
If James can't put together another near triple double masterpiece, look out for Dwayne Wade to explode with a huge game, as he is the type of player that can post a huge 35-40 point performance on any given night and is due for a game in which he carries the Heat on his back to a big victory.
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