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Pacers confident without Miller
Posted: Monday May 15, 2000 12:06 AM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Reggie Miller won't be around for Monday night's Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Philadelphia. The Indiana Pacers don't think they'll need him to beat the 76ers. The NBA on Sunday suspended Miller and 76ers center Matt Geiger for their actions Saturday, when Philadelphia won 92-90 to avoid elimination in the best-of-seven series. The league also suspended Geiger for a second game and fined both players and the 76ers. "We've done it before," Pacers center Rik Smits said Sunday of winning without Miller. He noted Indiana beat the 76ers in Philadelphia 92-90 in the final week of the season when both Miller and starting point guard Mark Jackson sat out. "We did pretty well in that game, so it is definitely possible," Smits said. "We've just got to take care of business," Jackson said. "This is not to say we're not going to miss him. But we're a very capable basketball team. The motivation is to put these guys away." No NBA team has ever won a seven-game playoff series after losing the first three games. Guard Travis Best said the Pacers want to eliminate the 76ers as quickly as possible. "You don't want to breathe any more life into them," Best said. "They still have some fight in them. They come to play, and they play hard." That much was clear Saturday. With 1:19 remaining in the third quarter, Geiger knocked Miller to the floor with his second flagrant foul of the game against the Pacers guard. Miller jumped up and swung an open hand to the face of the 7-foot Geiger, and both players were ejected. The NBA announced Sunday that in addition to the suspensions, it was fining Geiger $20,000, Miller $5,000 and the 76ers $50,000. "Teams and coaches will be held accountable for the reckless actions of their players," said Rod Thorn, the NBA executive in charge of discipline. Game 6, if necessary, will be Friday in Philadelphia. If there is no sixth game, Geiger would serve out the remaining game of his suspension at the start of the 2000-01 season. Despite the flagrant fouls, Jackson said the Pacers do not fault Geiger. "What Geiger did was unfortunate, it was cheap shots, it was dirty, but he did his job. You have to appreciate it, but at the same time, a penalty has to be paid," Jackson said. "He did his job. "If I was on his team, I'd tell him to do the same thing. . . . They were fighting for their lives, they had a sense of urgency, and they had to do something, and he did it." Miller declined to speak with the media Sunday, but issued an apology. "It was out of character for me. I understand where the league is coming from with the one-game suspension for retaliating, but I can't let someone intentionally try to hurt me for the sake of winning one basketball game," said Miller, who has averaged 26 points in the series. Geiger denied he tried to hurt Miller or that he had been told to intentionally foul him. "Coach [Larry] Brown has never, or would never, tell anybody on our team to go out and intentionally foul anybody. That was not my intent at all. I would never want to hurt anybody," said Geiger, who, at 248 pounds, is 46 pounds heavier than Miller. "I have no reason to try to hurt Reggie. . . . He obviously overreacted. If he thought I was trying to hurt him, I can understand his frustrations." Indiana coach Larry Bird said he wasn't ready to say who would start in Miller's place or how the absence would affect his rotation. "I'm a little disappointed. I really didn't think Reggie would get suspended. I really didn't think Geiger would get suspended. I just thought that it was two hard fouls," Bird said. The 76ers led 79-61 at the time of the second foul, and Indiana scored the next 15 points, eventually taking a 90-85 lead with 3:06 left.
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