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Meltdown Third quarter dooms Hawks as Pacers win 116-89
Posted: Wednesday December 29, 1999 09:22 PM
ATLANTA (AP) -- Reggie Miller has been waiting for the Indiana Pacers to make a statement. He did it himself Wednesday. With the Pacers trailing by 10 points at halftime, Miller hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 of his 25 points in the third quarter to lead Indiana to a 116-89 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. "If we're going to be considered one of the elite teams in this league -- which we believe we are -- we're going to have to find a way to win," Miller said. "We did a good job of taking good shots, which we didn't do in the first half. We got out on the break and we got a lot of easy ones." Indiana, which has won four straight and 12 of 14 games, outscored the Hawks 40-10 in the third quarter. It was the fewest points in a quarter by an Indiana opponent this season. Miller had only four points in the first half and was 0-for-4 on 3-point attempts. He passed Isaiah Thomas for 35th place on the NBA's career scoring list with two free throws at the outset of the third quarter. Miller has 18,844 career points. "I just got out there and got on the break," he said. "Once you get one [basket], they start coming down like rain. I've got to play defense first. I know the shots will come if I play defense." The Hawks, who have lost five of six and eight of their past 10 games, were led by Jim Jackson's 19 points and Isaiah Rider's 16. Afterward, Rider sat on the floor near the Hawks' bench with a warm-up jacket covering his head and his face buried in his hands. Once inside the locker room, he questioned his teammates' will to win with a profane-laced diatribe. "People don't care, man," Rider said. "I'm tired of this laughing and giggling ... when we're losing. People don't care, man. I care." Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens was exasperated, too, saying he did not fault Rider's stance.
"You're up by 10 -- you have to come out in the second half very hungry and very aggressive," Wilkens said. "We let them off the hook. We let guys get going, and you let Reggie get going, he's going to make some big-time shots. Our defense was just horrendous in the third quarter." The game turned on two bad plays by Atlanta's Alan Henderson, who in a 13-second span of the third quarter had a shot blocked by Dale Davis and then threw a pass that was stolen by Jalen Rose. Eight seconds after Rose's steal, Miller made his third 3-pointer to put the Pacers up 58-56. That gave Indiana its first lead since the beginning of the second quarter. From there, the Pacers outscored Atlanta 27-4 -- a stretch that culminated with Indiana going up 85-60 on Miller's fast-break layup at 11:13 of the fourth quarter. "In the second half, we put together one of the quarters that you hardly ever see in this league," Pacers coach Larry Bird said. "Mark Jackson was attacking the basket, making plays. That's what he has to do. He controls the offense when he posts up." Davis finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers, while Rose added 18 points and Rik Smits 18. Hawks center Dikembe Mutombo had only four points on 1-for-3 shooting. Atlanta committed 21 turnovers to 13 for Indiana and was outscored 37-11 on fast-break points. The Hawks' 10-point third quarter was their lowest output in a period this season. They shot only 24 percent (5-for-21) in the third.
Notes: Before Travis Best's layup with 5:53 to play, Indiana had a 95-75 lead but only five points from its reserves. ... Jackson had made seven consecutive 3-pointers - over a three-game span -- when he missed at 2:14 of the third quarter. ... Austin Croshere scored 11 points off the bench for the Pacers despite being listed as questionable with a sprained left ankle.
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