At least he didn’t refuse to go into the game.
But other than that, there aren’t many nice things to be said about Scottie Pippen’s play in the final seconds of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals Monday. With 4.7 seconds remaining and the Bulls up 94-93, Pippen missed two free throws.
The rebound off the second miss went out of bounds off Michael Jordan. Seconds later, Reggie Miller hit a game-winning three-pointer, and the best-of-seven series was tied at 2-2.
Now about those free throws . . .
“I don’t think that decided whether we won or lost the game,” Pippen said. “I could have sealed the victory. But you can’t get down over it.”
In his defense, Pippen could not really have sealed the victory–Miller’s shot would have tied the game even if Pippen had made both. But the Bulls would have been up three, looking at no worse than overtime, if he’d made both.
“I’ve seen it happen before,” Pacers coach Larry Bird said of Pippen’s misses. “I thought that maybe he would miss one.”
Bird had good reason to believe Pippen would be less than perfect. Pippen already had missed three of five foul shots in Game 4 after making only three of seven in Game 3. He’s shooting 50 percent (14 for 28) at the line in the series.
Pippen had a chance to make up for the misses when he was guarding Derrick McKey on the final play, but he couldn’t get a hand on McKey’s inbounds pass.
“Scottie really wasn’t playing aggressive on the ball,” Miller said.
What effect Pippen’s missed free throws had on his effort in the final seconds is difficult to discern. The misses were not his only errors of the fourth quarter–he played 42 minutes and could have been tired.
Pippen made a bad pass with the Bulls leading 85-77 to help kick-start the Pacers’ comeback. With the Bulls down 91-89 with 2:16 remaining, Pippen turned the ball over again. Pippen made only one basket in the fourth quarter, and his inability to score, as well as his two turnovers, were part of why the Bulls had only 17 points in the fourth quarter and blew an eight-point lead.
Pippen dished out 10 assists and grabbed seven rebounds, but had four turnovers and scored only 12 points, two in the second half.
And he can’t say he was worn down from guarding Mark Jackson. Jackson played only 17 minutes after the first quarter.
Pippen’s clamping down on Jackson was the story of Games 1 and 2. Without Pippen’s defense, the Bulls might not have led 2-0.
But with more of Pippen’s offense, the Bulls might not be tied 2-2.
“We have to win a game here,” Pippen said as he walked out of Market Square Arena. “It just has to be Game 6.”
