Intensity, heart
dominates East
Pacers vs. Knicks. Spike
vs. Reggie. Hicks vs.
Rockstars. Here we go
again basketball fans! Welcome
to the Eastern Conference Finals.
It’s the time of year I always
look forward to most. My Indi
ana Pacers against the world.
Somehow, though, the world al
ways means “The Knicks.”
As the playoffs go from year to
year, an Indiana-New York
matchup is practically guaran
teed, and with the circus-like at
Laura
Lucas
mosphere of the last few years, we
should be
thoroughly
entertained
this time
around. As
a die-hard
Pacers fan,
though, I’m
less inter
ested in en
tertainment
and more
interested
in results:
__ Last year
the Knicks
bumped off my team in six.
As Pacers’ main man Reggie
Miller — he had 8 points in 11
seconds against the dreaded
Knicks — says, “I hate them.”
That’s what this series is all
about: revenge, joy and history.
There’s plenty of psychological
issues to fixate on. Filmmaker
Spike Lee, perennial Knicks fan,
will hound Miller and perhaps
send him black roses as he was
purported to a few years ago.
Reggie will drop 30 or 40 points
in one game, I hope some of
those from a last-second three
point shot. We’ve got it all —
hard fouls, cold stares and the
bags under Jeff Van Gundy’s
eyes.
In fact, one could argue that
this series has more emotion and
excitement than the much-antic
ipated Lakers-Blazers matchup.
Sure the Lakers have L. A. style
and the Blazers have most Ore
gonian’s hearts, but look closer.
Both are amazing teams, and all
season the West has been
stronger than the East in the
NBA. What’s fun about watching
predictable all-star basketball?
What the Knicks-Pacers series
has that the Lakers-Blazers series
doesn’t are unpredictability and
desperation. These teams proba
bly won’t win the NBA Finals,
no matter which goes on to that
series, because the West is so
good. But these teams play with
an intensity and hidden hunger
the Lakers and Blazers with all
their high-priced talent just can’t
match.
This is a series about emotion
then. But it’s also about history.
The winner of the first game has
always gone on to win the series.
And last night, the Pacers took
an emphatic 1-0 lead with a 102
88 thumping of the Knicks. We
had a 35-17 lead going into the
second quarter. We had defen
sive intensity. We had home
court. We had an amazing alley
oop as the first quarter buzzer
sounded. We got the “W.”
So if tradition holds true — or
just perhaps because we’re the
better team on paper and in per
son — it’s Indiana in seven.
Or at least it better be. The Pac
ers have been to the Eastern Con
ference Finals four times in the
past seven years, and they’ve
never moved on. That fact has
crushed fans like me, and this
year we just won’t tolerate being
second best. And we certainly
won’t tolerate losing to the
Knicks.
Miller’s official Web site cur
rently has a fan contest for the
best “Reggie Haiku.” One of his
favorites sums up my feelings
perfectly:
“It will be a war; Reggie
stroking the three ball; Time to
walk the walk.”
Laura Lucas is the editorial editor for
the Emerald. Her views do not necessar
ily represent those of the newspaper.
She can be reached at
llucas@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
Pacers scorch Knicks
By Chris Sheridan
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indi
ana Pacers brought out the type of
potent, balanced offense New
York hadn’t seen in weeks, and it
was too much for the Knicks to
withstand.
Getting double-figure scoring
from six players and opening an
early 18-point lead that the Knicks
never fully recovered from, the
Pacers defeated New York 102-88
Tuesday night in Game 1 of the
Eastern Conference finals.
The Knicks, accustomed to fo
cusing on just one or two offen
sive threats in the first two rounds
against Toronto and Miami,
couldn’t cope with the many Pac
ers who all had their touch.
Austin Croshere came off the
bench to score a playoff career
high 22 points, while Reggie
Miller had 19, Jalen Rose 17 and
Rik Smits 16. Dale Davis added 14
points and 16 rebounds and Mark
Jackson had 11 points and 13 as
sists as the Pacers put together the
highest-scoring game against the
Knicks in this postseason.
In their first 10 postseason
games, the Knicks had not allowed
an opponent more than 88 points.
The Pacers reached that mark
with more than six minutes re
maining on a 3-pointer by
Croshere that gave them a 14
point lead, and Croshere got them
to 100, too, on a 3-pointer with 42
seconds remaining.
Croshere, a bench warmer in
last season’s Eastern Conference
finals when Indiana lost to the
Knicks in six games, came off the
bench to more than neutralize
Marcus Camby.
Shooting 7-for-10 from the
field, including 4-for-5 on 3
pointers and 4-for-4 from the free
throw line, Croshere reached
double figures for the fifth time
this postseason and scored eight
of his points in the fourth quarter
to keep the Knicks safely out of
comeback range.
Latrell Sprewell led New York
with 22 points, while Patrick Ew
ing had 21. Allan Houston added
18 points for the Knicks, who
were coming off seven grueling,
low-scoring games against the de
fensively oriented Miami Heat.
Notes: Since joining the NBA
in 1976, the Pacers have played in
21 playoff series prior to this one.
When they win Game 1, the Pac
ers are 10-0. When they lose
Game 1, they are 0-11. In the five
previous Knicks-Pacers series,
the winner of Game 1 has gone on
to win the series.
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