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New View 2000 Office of Student Life
Pacers win,
shut up
angry fans
By Chris Sheridan
The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Reggie
Miller was too much for the
taunters, Travis Best was too
quick for Allen Iverson and Sam
Perkins was too cool in the
clutch.
The Indiana Pacers moved
within one victory of sweeping
the Philadelphia 76ers out of the
playoffs for the second straight
season, controlling the game
down the stretch Wednesday
night for a 97-89 victory and a 3-0
lead in the Eastern Conference
semifinals.
Miller scored 29 points, in
cluding 13 in the fourth quarter,
to silence a sellout crowd that
taunted him with derisive chants
— and worse — all night. After
Miller iced the victory on a break
away dunk with 22 seconds left,
fans tossed debris on the court,
including a full can of beer that
missed Sixers forward George
Lynch by inches.
Miller closed the game by drib
bling out the final seconds,
bouncing the ball between his
legs while staring down a group
of fans sitting across from the
Philadelphia bench who had
been yapping at him all night.
In the end, he and the Pacers
had shut up everyone.
Indiana scored 32 of the game’s
final 48 points, with Best and
Perkins contributing several key
shots. Best repeatedly used his
speed to get to the basket and
score while guarded by Iverson,
and Perkins hit a running hook
shot and two 3-pointers in the fi
nal 12 minutes.
Put together, it allowed the
Pacers to overcome a sub-par ef
fort from Jalen Rose, who fin
ished with 12 points after scoring
40 and 30 in the first two games.
Best had 19 points, while
Perkins and Dale Davis added 10
apiece.
Iverson had 29 points to lead
the 76ers, who will try to avoid
the sweep Saturday in Game 4.
Miller gave Indiana the lead for
good on a 3-pointer with 8:59 left,
although the 76ers stayed within
reach until the final minute.
Two foul shots by Iverson with
3:20 left made it 87-85 before
Perkins hit his running hook shot
with 2:46 left. A 24-second viola
tion on the Sixers was followed
by a foul shot by Best, and a driv
ing layup by Iverson made it 90
87 with 1:58 left.
Perkins got the lead back to six
by answering with a 3-pointer,
and Best gave Indiana another
six-point lead on a driving layup
past Iverson with 1:11 left.
A turnover by Iverson on
Philadelphia’s next possession
ended the Sixers’ chances. Beer
cups — and that one full can —
began flying out of the stands
shortly thereafter. Philadelphia
coach Larry Brown admonished
the crowd over the public ad
dress system and play was de
layed as ball boys cleaned the
court.
The Sixers took their first lead
of the entire series 2 1/2 minutes
into the first quarter as Iverson
scored on a driving layup to
make it 6-5. With Aaron McKie
hitting four of five shots and Ty
rone Hill grabbing seven re
bounds, Philadelphia led for
most of the quarter and was up
23-22 heading into the second
quarter.