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Pacers' Team Report With a critical Game 4 on the line, Indy's feeling frisky
Posted: Tuesday June 13, 2000 07:13 PM
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com INDIANAPOLIS -- It's amazing, really, what one win and a home crowd can do for a team's psyche during the NBA Finals. The Indiana Pacers are down in this series, 2 games to 1 to the Los Angeles Lakers. They're facing the comeback of one of the league's best players in L.A.'s Kobe Bryant. They have to go against the league's premier player, Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal. And the Pacers are acting as if they're in charge. They're more than happy to be where they are. In fact, they're downright cocky. "We were aggressive and cocky in the first two games, too," said Indiana's Jalen Rose. "We just lost both of those." The Pacers are up, all right, but they know that Game 4 on Wednesday night in Indy's Conseco Fieldhouse could sink them quicker than a Reggie Miller free throw. No team ever has won the three middle games at home in a Finals with a 2-3-2 format and a loss in any of those games would put the Lakers one win away from the title with two games yet to play in L.A. "We understand L.A. is coming in here trying to get one game, hopefully, and trying to close out the series if possible," Rose said. "But at the same time, we're trying to be the first team to win three in a row. So we'll see what happens." With L.A.'s Kobe Bryant back in the lineup, the Pacers expect the Lakers to come out stronger than ever in Game 4. The Lakers never led in Game 3 but still were only down by four points in the fourth quarter -- and the Lakers played that entire game without Bryant. The win in Game 3, the first NBA Finals game ever in Indianapolis, did wonders for the Pacers. They were down on themselves a little bit after losing Game 2 in L.A. Bryant had sprained his ankle in the first quarter of that game, and the Pacers felt they lost a key opportunity when they lost that game. Coach Larry Bird has been trying ever since to make sure his team understands that this could be a long series. "The one thing I keep telling these guys, it's a roller coaster ride," Bird said. "You're high one day and at the bottom the next." After Game 3, it's hard to believe the Pacers could be any higher. In fact, it's something they have to caution themselves against. "Just because we won one game, we cannot be happy and we can't settle. We have to find some way to tie this series up and put some pressure on them," guard Reggie Miller said. "If I'm [in the Lakers' shoes], they still feel pretty good about themselves. They played fairly good in Game 3 without Kobe. With Kobe coming back, they'll be somewhat at full strength. They're looking just to get one ballgame here, so they have to feel very good about themselves." If the Lakers feel as good about themselves as the Pacers do about themselves ... well, someone's in for a hard fall Wednesday night.
Strategy of the DayAfter practice Wednesday, the talk was on how to stop Bryant if he plays. The idea is simple: The Pacers will test Bryant on both ends of the floor, early and often, to see how his ankle reacts. And they'll go from there. They'll back him down and run him around when Bryant is playing defense. And when the Lakers have the ball, expect the Pacers to test Bryant early by getting up in his face to see if he has the quickness and strength to push off on the first step to get around the defenders.
Quote of the DayBird, on whether he employs any spiritual motivational techniques, like the ones L.A. coach Phil Jackson uses: "Hey, I pray on every shot out there. That's about as close as it gets."
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