INDIANAPOLIS – Dale Davis knows it’s important to dress for success. And for a series with the Knicks.
See, Reggie Miller has taken to wearing a Superman T-shirt during the playoffs, and has
pretty much lived the part. So Davis, knowing the annual war the Pacers wage with the Knicks, has started wearing battle fatigues.
“One of my friends got on me,” explained Davis, “and he gave me a shirt. He said I better be ready. He bought me some guerrilla warfare shirts and said this was going to be a war and I should be ready for a war.”
Davis was more than ready.
“This game was won by Dale Davis,” praised Mark Jackson after Davis was a one-man rebounding army, snaring a game-high 16 boards – two off his career playoff high – and scoring 14 points as the Pacers claimed a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Finals with a 102-88 victory over the Knicks.
“We can talk about the assists, guys that scored and knocked down shots, guys that made plays,” continued Jackson in praise of the Pacer power forward. “The tone that he set on the glass, pretty much being our lone enforcer. He won the ball game for us.”
With rebounding. With defense – his fourth-quarter rejection of Patrick Ewing was of the “Plays of the Week” vintage. And Davis won it with offense.
He was unusually active early, hitting jumpers and shooting over the likes of Larry Johnson and Kurt Thomas. He made 7 of 13 shots. But above all, he rebounded.
“We knew it was going to be big. If we are going to win this series, we have to control the boards,” Davis said.
Especially without his longtime running mate, Antonio Davis, traded to Toronto. Players such as Jackson have openly admitted the team is not as tough without Antonio Davis.
“I haven’t been critical. I’ve been honest,” said Jackson, who never seemed to be enthralled of the deal that sent Antonio Davis to Toronto for high-school phenom Jonathan Bender. “I said, ‘How can you be a better basketball team without Antonio Davis?’ And that’s quite honest. We are still the best team in the East. That would be disrespectful to Antonio Davis and what he brings to the table.”
But last night, Dale Davis stepped up inside and Austin Croshere stepped up outside with a barrage of 3-pointers. And Davis was dressed for the part.