First Reggie Miller managed to work the Indiana Pacers into an unbeatable Hoosier hysteria.
Then he and his teammates exterminated the New York Knicks 93-80 at Madison Square Garden Friday night to claim the Eastern Conference title and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. Miller scored 34 of the Pacers’ 93 points.
“I told the guys before the game, if the league called you and said: `Look, you guys have a chance to go to the Finals, but you have to win one game, and we will let you pick the venue where you want to play, as well as the team,’ where would you want to play?
“Everyone said the Garden and against New York,” Miller said.
With Miller breaking loose for 17 points, the Pacers outscored the Knicks 31-15 during a telltale fourth-quarter stretch to win the series in six games.
To the dismay of Spike Lee, Miller has staged some of his most remarkable performances at Madison Square Garden.
“This is our home away from home. That’s the way we feel,” Miller said. “We’ve had some great games in here. And what better way to do it than on the road.
“Game 7 would have been, to tell you the truth, too much pressure for us. Because New York has proved over the years that they can come into someone else’s court and win. We wanted to win it here. Tonight was our Game 7.”
Jalen Rose (11 points) and Travis Best (10) were the only other Pacers in double figures. Point guard Mark Jackson had nine points and four assists.
The Pacers frittered away a nine-point halftime lead as the Knicks drew to a 62-62 tie after three quarters.
“I thought we did a horrible job in the third quarter,” Miller said. “And we were very fortunate to be tied going into the fourth. Mark [Jackson] kept telling me: `Just shoot every time, no matter what.’
“If there was going to be a Game 7, it was going to be with me shooting every single time. Our offense was very stagnant. And I told [coach] Larry [Bird] and I told Mark to just run the offense, every single play, through me. I had to have my hands on the basketball.”
The Knicks received 32 points from an ailing Latrell Sprewell and 18 points and 12 rebounds from Patrick Ewing, who again was denied a chance to win his first NBA title.
“We didn’t play well enough down the stretch to get the win,” Ewing said somberly. “We came close, we fought back. We had our opportunities.”
Miller connected on 10 of 19 shots from the field, including 5 of 7 three-pointers. He made all nine of his free throws.
“Reggie was awesome tonight and didn’t want it to go to Game 7,” Bird said.
Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said: “Miller has been a great player for a long time. We had done a good job on him for most of the series. This game is one where he got away from us a little bit.”
The Pacers, who were in the conference finals for the fifth time in seven years, lost to the Knicks in seven games in 1994, to Orlando in seven in 1995, to the Bulls in seven in 1998 and again to New York in six last year.
Indiana won three ABA championships before it entered the NBA as part of the merger in 1976.
“It’s a great opportunity for these guys, a good chance to play for a world championship,” said Bird, who is leaving as Pacers coach. “You know that’s what this NBA is all about, having an opportunity to win. And they have no idea what they got themselves into.”
Bird said defense and rebounding enabled it to win on the road for the first time this series.
“Two games ago players were questioning what I was doing,” he said. “And all I told them: `You have to believe and you have to get up and play harder. And if you lay it on the line, it will work.”‘
