INDIANAPOLIS – Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals couldn’t get underway last night before Reggie Miller started flapping his gums about how he hates the Knicks and doesn’t think they give the Pacers enough respect. It’s just like Miller to think anyone really cares whether he hates the Knicks or not. As if that will ultimately have anything to do with whether the Pacers beat the Knicks in this best-of-seven series.
But at least for one night Miller walked the talk, all the way to a 102-88 victory over the Knicks in a noisy Conseco Fieldhouse. Miller scored 19 points on 8-of-20 shooting last night, not exactly Knick-killing numbers, but enough to help a Pacer ambush that began by outscoring the Knicks 35-17 in the first quarter before putting them away with a 12-3 run to start the fourth.
We’ll give Miller his props even if his pregame statement smacked of self-promotion.
“I just don’t like them,” he said of the Knicks. “They just think they always think they’re bigger and badder than everyone. They don’t want to give anyone else respect. We know they don’t give us respect. So why should I give respect to someone who doesn’t give us respect?”
His remarks were ridiculous given the fact the Knicks have almost always been respectful of the Pacers and their talent. But after 12 seasons, Miller can’t abandon his tired act that craves attention, as if this series doesn’t offer enough of a spotlight. He knew his words before Game 1 would result in headlines from the Midwest to Manhattan. Mission accomplished.
But this series won’t be about Reggie or his mouth. It’s the play of the Pacers and their other emerging stars that deserve the headlines today. The Pacers won last night, not just because of Miller, but the overall contribution of Jalen Rose, who scored all of his 17 of his points in the second half, and Austin Croshere, who came off the bench to add 22.
Rik Smits got his team off to a fast start with 10 points in the first quarter, when it looked like the Pacers would blow out the Knicks. And then there was Dale Davis, never known as an offensive threat, who finished with 14 points.
Perhaps more stunningly was that the Pacers beat the Knicks with speed and athleticism, the two ingredients the Knicks used to eliminate the slower Pacers last season. Their transition hurt the Knicks in the first quarter and then again in the fourth quarter when the Knicks had a real chance, closing to within 78-71 at the end of three.
When Miller drained his last jumper with 7:59 remaining, it gave the Pacers an 83-74 lead. Rose and Croshere did most of the work the rest of the way. But Miller still took credit, saying, “This team rises and falls with me. I gotta lead by example.”
He also took credit for “holding” Allan Houston to 18 points.
“I’m going to make him work all series,” he said.
Miller had talked before the game about wanting to “exorcise some demons” against the Knicks. But winning one game doesn’t do that, especially when some of those demons were born last year when the Knicks eliminated the Pacers and went on to the Finals against the Spurs. Miller was a virtual non-factor in that series, averaging 16.2 points per game and making just 3 of 18 shots in Game 6.
That result, along with the fact the Pacers have been to the conference finals five times in the last seven years and haven’t advanced, has haunted Miller and his team. It’s why he couldn’t resist taking jabs at the Knicks, which only revealed his own frustrations at his team’s failures. Maybe that’s why they came out in the first quarter last night with the type of intensity the Knicks couldn’t match.
Miller turns 35 in August and with a handful of free agents on his team and a lame-duck coach in Larry Bird, this could be the last chance for the Pacers and perhaps the last chance for Miller.
He probably hasn’t gotten over the fact that the Knicks chose to pursue Houston over him in 1996 when both were free agents, a move that proved to be right when Houston torched him last year. Houston averaged 19.0 points per game in that series, and while Miller was throwing up bricks in Game 6, Houston was scoring 32.
Sure, Miller has been a Knick-killer in the past. But he isn’t quite the same player anymore. Unless you like a one-dimensional game of 3-point shooting, complimented with a knack for flopping for fouls, Miller doesn’t exactly have much versatility left in that skinny frame. What he has now is better help around him. More athletic help in Croshere and Rose. “They’re by far the best offensive team in the East,” Jeff Van Gundy said. “They second unit is very good because everybody can shoot the ball or put it on the floor and make a play.”
In the final year of his contract, Miller needs a big playoff series to warrant someone, especially the Pacers, paying him more big money. Maybe that’s why he wanted the spotlight on himself. But judging from last night, it won’t be the long before the Pacers belong to Rose, Croshere, and Travis Best, three players who should concern the Knicks more than Miller.
He can talk all he wants about how he hates the Knicks. But this series isn’t going to be about Reggie. The Knicks have more to worry about than him.