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Pacers-Sixers Game 3 Preview Philadelphia needs more help to avoid 0-3 deficit
Posted: Wednesday May 10, 2000 02:01 PM
There are changes in the works for the Sixers tonight, and there need to be. Eric Snow gave it a courageous effort, but the chip fracture of his right ankle has him out for the duration. One of the guys who spells him, Kevin Ollie, has a knee injury. Those are problems, and the answer is The Answer. He'll play some point guard tonight when Aaron McKie isn't manning the post. Iverson has scored 28 in each of the first two games, and the Pacers will take that any day. Philadelphia has to find a way to get some other guys involved in the scoring act as the series moves to the city of Brotherly Love tonight with the Sixers down 2-zip. McKie knows that he's one of those offensive sources. Not only do the Sixers need points, they need him to make Reggie Miller work on both ends of the floor. But even if the Sixers are able to solve their offensive woes, there's that matter of defense. George Lynch takes full responsibility, saying, "My man [Jalen Rose] is averaging 35 points a game in this series. I've got to do a better job for my team to have a chance." Rose has been an enormous thorn (sorry, I couldn't resist) in the side of his old coach Larry Brown, and his 30 in Game 2 even amazed my studio buddies, Sean Elliott of the Spurs and Antonio Davis of the Raptors. "30!!" they said in unison as the final box came down ... that's a quiet 30, that's a Tim Duncan 30," meaning that there's not a whole lot of flair, not many big-time highlight moments in the course of the game, but add 'em all up, and he got 'em. The Pacers have hit a stunning 45 percent from 3-point range in this series, with Austin Croshere bagging 4-of-4 in Game 2. An ankle sprain has Croshere's status for Game 3 up in the air, which could help the Philly cause tonight. They need every break they can get, with the prospect of an 0-3 deficit staring 'em straight in the eye.
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