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Closer look Busted play works Best
Posted: Friday May 05, 2000 02:48 AM
By Marty Burns, Sports Illustrated INDIANAPOLIS -- It might not have been the biggest shot in the history of the Indiana Pacers, but if it hadn't gone down the Pacers as we know them would probably be history. And to think it was basically a broken play. Maybe that's why the Pacers were almost giddy in describing Travis Best's huge 3-point field goal with 16.5 seconds left Thursday night that lifted them past the Bucks 96-95 and into the Eastern Conference semifinals. Best's dagger -- which came after he'd made just two of his 14 previous shots, including 0-of-4 from beyond the arc -- came off a play originally designed to get the ball in the hands of Reggie Miller. "Basically, the play got messed up," forward Dale Davis said with a smile. "Sometimes it just happens that way." The Pacers were trailing 94-93 with 29.4 seconds left when they set up after a timeout to inbound the ball under the Bucks' basket. The idea was for forward Derrick McKey to set a screen on Best's man down low, freeing Best to get the inbounds pass from Miller in the corner. Assuming he would be closely guarded, Best was then to swing the ball to Jalen Rose on top while Miller ran off a screen from Davis and set up on his favorite spot, on the right wing (facing the basket) on the other side of the court from Best. "That's probably Reggie's favorite spot on the court," Pacers assistant coach Rick Carlisle said. "From there he can square up and shoot, or put it on the floor and drive to the basket." Unfortunately for the Bucks, Miller never got the ball. At least not from Rose. To Indiana's surprise, Best was left wide open in the corner -- right in front of the Milwaukee bench -- when the Bucks failed to switch on the screen. "We figured they'd switch," McKey said. "But as we were setting up I heard (Darvin) Ham tell Tim Thomas to (follow Best through the screen.) I don't know if Tim heard him or not because the crowd was pretty loud." With Thomas sealed off by McKey, Best had nobody in front of him when he caught the pass from Miller and quickly fired away. The shot rattled out, but Davis leaped high to grab the offensive rebound. With Milwaukee's defense now scrambled, Davis pitched the ball to Miller in his favorite spot, and Miller immediately drove baseline toward the basket. "I was hoping to at least draw a foul," Miller later said. "Ervin Johnson bumped me a little bit, but when I got down low they collapsed in the lane. I saw Travis (in the corner) so I passed it to him." Best immediately swung the ball to forward Jalen Rose at the left elbow. Rose head faked, then took it to the rack. As he neared the basket, Ham and Ray Allen slid over to stop him, leaving Best wide open once again at virtually the identical spot where he'd missed just seconds before. Best calmly settled his feet and this time buried the shot, effectively killing Milwaukee's upset hopes and sending the Conseco crowd of 18,000-plus into pandemonium. Afterward Best didn't want to think about what might have happened had his shot not found its mark. With six free agents -- including aging stars Miller, Rik Smits and Mark Jackson -- a first-round loss to the Bucks could well have meant the dismantling of this Pacers team. "I'm just happy it went down," Best said. Even if it wasn't exactly the way coach Larry Bird drew it up.
Sports Illustrated staff writer Marty Burns covers pro basketball for CNNSI.com. Click here to send Marty a comment.
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