After splitting the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat looked vulnerable for the first time in the playoffs. Headed into Game 3, Erik Spoelstra would need to make some adjustments. He went with the nuclear option: sending LeBron James into the post. LeBron is hardly a technician on the low block, but he has such a sizable physical advantage on his defenders that it doesn’t matter. His post game is the glass box Spoelstra breaks in case of emergency. Until someone figures out a counter, it will be hard to beat Miami four times in a seven-game series.

For years, not being able to punish players with his back to the basket was the biggest hole in LeBron’s game. He’s always been able to beat bigger players off the dribble, but smaller players could at least stay in front of him and force a contested jumper. Now that he can take them to the low block and score over the top of them, there might not be anyone in the NBA who can prevent him from creating an easy shot within five feet of the rim. This season, it’s mostly been something he’s had in his back pocket. LeBron still prefers to play from the perimeter, using the post game only occasionally in the playoffs.

When LeBron plays out of the post, it takes Miami’s offense to an entirely different level. He really started to get comfortable there in last season’s NBA Finals, which ended with a 121-106 blowout in Game 5. That was the level the Heat’s offense went to in their 114-96 beating of Indiana on Sunday. They scored 70 points in one half against the No. 1 ranked defense in the NBA. With LeBron in the block, defenses have to pick their poison. On Sunday, Indiana stayed at home, not sending double teams at LeBron even when he had Paul George pinned on his hip.

The dilemma with LeBron, unlike most great scorers, is that he wants to be double teamed so he can make the extra pass. Headed into Game 4, the obvious adjustment for Frank Vogel is to send extra defenders and pack the paint. However, there aren’t many good options to send help from. In the Western Conference Finals, the San Antonio Spurs liberally helped off Tayshaun Prince and Tony Allen, essentially daring them to hit open shots. In contrast, Dwyane Wade is the only Miami perimeter player who can’t shoot with range and he’s too smart a cutter to leave open off-the-ball.

The Pacers will want to send Roy Hibbert and David West, but the Heat big men can punish Indiana when left open. Udonis Haslem, who had only three points in Games 1 and 2, was lights-out in Game 3, with 17 points on 8-9 shooting. Chris “Birdman” Andersen can’t shoot, but he knows how to flash to open spots around the basket and he has the touch and body control to finish through contact. Chris Bosh had 15 points on 6-10 shooting in only 24 minutes; having to defend him on the three-point line is almost unfair. In Miami’s system, he can explode at any time.

Everyone focuses on the pairing of LeBron and Wade, but Bosh was always the perfect complement to LeBron. The key is that he allows LeBron to play with an inverted floor. As a big man who operates at 20-25 feet from the basket, he creates room for a wing to set up shop at 5-10 feet. Most modern defenses are designed to protect the paint against a guy like LeBron and give up long two-point jumpers in the process. Those are Bosh’s favorite spots on the floor. He is an eight-time NBA All-Star who gets mostly open looks from his favorite spots. That’s how a third option averages 18 points on 54 percent shooting.

The two most important players on Miami are still under 30. A jump-shooting big man like Bosh can be successful in the NBA for an awfully long time. After all, size and shooting ability don’t fade as you get older. Bosh, if anything, could become more effective in the future. Just from adding old man strength, he’ll become a more effective deterrent in the post. This is his first postseason run with a three-point shot. If he can consistently shoot 40 percent from deep, good luck. LeBron on the box and Bosh at the three-point line is as dangerous at 34 as it is at 28.

Wade, meanwhile, has reinvented himself as a secondary playmaker. He’s no longer as explosive offensively, but he knows how to pick his spots, getting looks out of the post and with the floater. As a result, he’s still an efficient player who can impact the game in many ways. On Sunday, he had 18 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two steals on 8-14 shooting. He has plenty of 25-30 point outbursts still in him, but those are slowly becoming the exception rather than the norm. Wade is declining from such a peak that he will be effective for a very long time. He could be in a Ron Harper role by the end of this team’s run.

After the Miami onslaught in Game 3, Indiana will likely try to force the ball into their fourth and fifth options in Game 4. If there’s been a weak spot for the Heat in the playoffs, it has been consistency from Haslem, Mario Chalmers, Ray Allen, Shane Battier and Norris Cole. Chalmers is shooting 28% from three and Battier is at 21 percent in the postseason. Expect the Pacers to force those guys to make some open shots. Miami, though, has even more options on the bench. If they need more shooting, Spoelstra can use Mike Miller, James Jones or Rashard Lewis.

Vogel won’t have to make as many adjustments on the offensive end of the floor, where Indiana has had an edge the whole series. The Heat don’t really have an answer for Hibbert and West, who have looked like All-NBA players against the smaller Miami front-line. The question is whether the Pacers have enough firepower from the perimeter to win a shootout, especially without much bench scoring. They need George to average 25-30 points a game, but they also need him to be the primary defender on LeBron as well as their primary playmaker

Over the last two years, Spoelstra has subtly changed the identity of his team. Miami has become a team that wins primarily on offense, hoping to make up for deficits on the defensive glass with three-point shooting and fast break points. With LeBron on the low block and shooters spotting up along the three-point line, it’s essentially impossible to defend them. To beat them, you have to outscore them and impose your will on the other side of the floor. The problem with relying on that strategy, of course, is that LeBron plays defense too.