Heat Fans Looking For A Big Win In Game 7
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The excitement continued to build in Downtown Miami as fans lined up outside the AmericanAirlines Arena to try to get tickets for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers.
"We are going to do this tonight," said Abraham Thomas aka "The Heat Man." "Let's go Heat!"
"Go hard or go home," said Jose Vazquez.
Fans said if both teams bring it, Monday nights match up would be epic.
"I got the worst ticket but I don't care. It's going to be a great night," Ruban Cabanas.
That's an understatement. Heat fans paid $86 for standing room only tickets in the nosebleed sections at the box office. Those were the only tickets they had.
"I'll stand up the whole game anyway. I don't need a chair to watch the Heat," said Richard Gonzalez.
"It's Game 7 you have to be there, hoping we go to finals," said Kress Newbold who came from the Bahamas.
More than seven million basketball fans are expected to catch the game on television. Brad Herrall with Miller's Ale House in Coral Gables.
"This place will be packed wall to wall tonight. We'll have four deep at the bar. All the staff looks forward to it. People are standing on their chairs yelling 'Let's go Heat'," said Herrall.
Herrall said a win tonight could really help his staff.
"That's potentially 5 to 7 more games of revenue for these guys to make some money. So it's a big impact on our economy here in the restaurant," said Herall.
Dwayne Lane said he's happy to make "Heat Zingers" for a couple of more weeks. He adds he's mastered the art of watching the game and cooking.
"You have to stay focused. Because as soon as you get out of focus things go wrong," said Lane.
Fans across the world will see the two teams battle it out along with shots of the Miami skyline. The Miami Tower will be lit up in Heat colors for the occasion.
"I think it's Iconic. It's civic duty. I think it shows our pride in Miami," said Ingrid Vazquez who can controls the tower's recently updated LED lights from a laptop.
On Heat game nights, "I do it from home, on my phone," said Vazquez.
Recently though she's run into a bit of a 'white hot heat' problem. The LEDs don't exactly make a white color. If they get it close to what the naked eye perceives as white, it will look blue on television. As Vazquez works through it, she plans to cycle through the Heats various color schemes Monday night.
"We have white, straight Hot White, and we have Heat Dynamic which is red, white and black that swirls through the building," said Vazquez.
The winner of Game 7, be it the Heat or the Pacers, will go on to play San Antonio Spurs on Thursday in the Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
