| |
|
|
 'Put them away' Miller, Pacers go for sweep on Sunday
Posted: Saturday May 22, 1999 05:25 PM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- With perhaps one last tuneup in enemy territory before heading to the Eastern Conference finals, Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers sense the importance of the moment. Sweep the Philadelphia 76ers and their cacophonous fans aside and take another step toward the goal that has so far eluded them. "Put them away," said Mark Jackson, laying out the plan for Game 4 Sunday with the Pacers leading 3-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals. "They're a young team that's well coached. We don't want to give them any life. It's important for us to put them away while we can." The Pacers took a dramatic step toward doing so with a 97-86 victory over the Sixers Friday night. The Pacers are 6-0 in the playoffs and can advance to their fourth conference final in five years. No team has ever squandered a 3-0 lead in the NBA playoffs. Miller, who thrives on hostility as much as any pro athlete of his generation, led the methodical Pacers in an unfriendly atmosphere. Sixers fans filled the First Union Center with the kind of noise and inhospitality that hasn't been witnessed in this city in years. "This is like two Palestras," said one courtside observer who has attended every big basketball game in this city for more than three decades. Derisive, profane chants invoking Miller's name started 15 minutes before tipoff. Predictably, it only drove Miller to pull off another of his merciless clinics in transforming loathing into fear. "I don't think you could ever learn that. It's somewhat innate," said Miller, who scored 29 points, including a crushing 3-pointer that provided a late 16-point lead. "Not everyone can have all the commercials and be clapped everywhere you go. There have to be people that you love to hate, and I just happen to be that person." He's a master in playing that role. "I don't know about that," said Miller's coach, Larry Bird, fairly driven by taunts and adversity in his playing days. "I don't compare myself to Reggie. We're different type of players." Whatever happens Sunday, the Sixers and their fans have awakened from a nearly decade-long slumber that included yearly trips to the NBA draft lottery. Team president Pat Croce, who has completely rebuilt the organization with Larry Brown as coach, ordinarily would have headed there Saturday to seek the latest morsel of salvation for a team that was virtually dead throughout the '90s. "I don't worry about being swept, but I'd be crushed if we didn't go out and compete at an unbelievably high level," Brown said Saturday. "But win or lose, it's not going to take away from what we've done all year." The 76ers have tried nearly everything to shake the experienced Pacers, including a relentless shower of shots by Allen Iverson, the league scoring champion. Iverson, who scored 32 points on 33 shots Friday night, has missed 54 shots in the series -- more than any Pacers player has attempted. Those who attend Sunday's game must wonder how to handle Miller this time. Miller offered this advice: Shut up. "They always say silence is golden, but that'll never happen," Miller said. "I respect and I like when the fans get into the game. That's part of professional sports. I like wearing the black hat. But at some point in time when it's not working in your favor, it has to stop." Unless the New York Knicks blow their 2-0 lead over Atlanta, another rematch between two of the best trash talkers in sports appears imminent. Spike Lee, Miller's favorite courtside instigator, will be waiting at Madison Square Garden. Lee was quoted recently as saying that he wanted the Sixers to beat Indiana. Miller's infamous hands-on-the-throat gesture to Lee during the 1994 conference finals would be hard to top. "What happened between Reggie and I was special," Lee said. "That can't be duplicated." Don't tempt him.
| |||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||
