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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The boos came down from the stands in one big booming voice, the hometown fans venting at their team after an utterly miserable start.
|  | | FOUL! Charlie Ward sends Reggie Miller to the free throw line. Miller hit both free throws and scored 16 points for the Pacers. |
Down by 18, beaten on defense and off-target on offense, the
Pacers looked pathetic.
Then, suddenly, it all changed. So suddenly it was shocking.
Making a quick turnaround from an early 18-point deficit,
Indiana overcame the return of Patrick Ewing to defeat the New York Knicks 88-79 Wednesday night and take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
"Our fans were disappointed with the way we started, but I
wasn't disappointed because we were playing hard," Pacers coach
Larry Bird said. "I just hoped they wouldn't put their heads
between their legs."
The Pacers turned that huge early deficit into a two-point lead by halftime, closing the second quarter with a 23-3 run. They built their lead as high as 10 points in the second half, getting strong games from Travis Best, Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose and Reggie Miller, and didn't let the Knicks back within striking distance in the fourth quarter.
Best had his best game of the series with 24 points, including
15 in the fourth quarter, while Rose had 18 points and seven
rebounds, Miller had 16 points and Jackson added 11 points, seven
assists, no turnovers and a new gesture -- an Indiana version of
Larry Johnson's "Big L," crossing his arms over his head or in front of his chest after big baskets.
Jackson called the gesture "the cross."
"Rather than the helicopter or a jiggle or anything else, I thought of glorifying God," he said.
Game 6 is Friday night at Madison Square Garden, where the
Knicks will try to regain some of the momentum they built by
winning Games 3 and 4. But in order to win the best-of-seven series
they'll still have to win a game at Indiana, where they are 0-5
since the Pacers moved into Conseco Fieldhouse.
The Knicks will also have to find a way to score more points.
They had 32 in the first quarter in building their big lead, then
scored just eight in the second and 15 in the third.
Allan Houston led New York with 25 points, but no one else did much. Ewing returned after missing two games with foot tendinitis and had nine points and four rebounds in the first quarter before
finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Johnson, hampered by a foot injury sustained at the end of Game
4, shot just 2-for-8 for four points, while Latrell Sprewell was
4-for-14. The Knicks shot 12-for-19 in the first quarter but were
18-for-56 the rest of the way.
Best shot 7-for-11 for the Pacers, who made 10 3-pointers, went
20-for-25 at the line and committed only seven turnovers.
"We've seen these guys so many times, we don't have to come out
with many new schemes," Best said. "We just need to help each
other out. When we do that, we go to another level."
With Rik Smits starting 0-for-5, the Pacers shot just 27 percent in the first quarter and trailed 32-17 entering the second. New
York's lead reached 37-19 two minutes into the quarter, and the
fans booed the home team off the court during a timeout.
If the Pacers needed something to inspire them, perhaps that did
the trick.
They had a 9-0 run coming out of the timeout before Ewing hit a
jumper in the lane, then closed the half with a 13-1 run that
included a 3-pointer by Best after the Pacers grabbed two offensive
rebounds.
"This is not our defining moment. For the people just jumping
on board it may be, but we've been there and done that," Jackson
said. "We're a veteran basketball team that has no quit in us, and
we understood that it was far from over."
Indiana had 10 offensive rebounds to New York's three at
halftime, and Rose had 13 points. New York tied the game early in
the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Houston, but the Pacers scored
the next nine points and eventually went up by 11 as Jackson backed
his way into the lane -- a move he has always had success with
against the Knicks -- and hit a jump hook.
The Knicks had to play catchup from there and never got closer
than six.
"We never nipped it, never cut it off at the right time," Houston said. "It just got worse. We had a hangover from that after halftime, and we never recovered."
New York pulled within six with 5:03 left as Houston made his
third shot of the fourth quarter, but Best hit a layup after Derrick McKey hustled down an offensive rebound in the corner -- one of the Pacers' 13 offensive boards.
Sam Perkins hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 3:48 left, and Best hit a 3-pointer with 2:33 left for an 82-71 lead. Best then
shook Charlie Ward with a shake-and-bake move and hit an 18-footer for an 84-73 lead with 1:46 left that all but ended it.
This is the Pacers' fifth trip to the conference finals in seven
years, and the Pacers have won three games -- but never a fourth -- in three of those series. In 1994, the Pacers had a 3-2 lead on the Knicks but then lost the final two games of the series.
"We're one win away from being in Macy's window, in front of
the whole country," Jackson said. "That's what we've dreamed
about, and that's what we look forward to."
Ewing had no trouble running up and down the court early on as
he grabbed the first rebound of the game and hit his first three
shots. The Knicks made their first eight attempts from the field,
going 2-for-3 from 3-point range, to quickly open a double-digit
lead.
Ewing converted a layup with his back to the basket on the fast
break, then converted a three-point play for a 27-13 lead.
Things looked good for the Knicks at that point, then went
steadily downhill.
"Understanding the urgency of Game 5, we responded," Miller
said. "Larry kept saying 'Just keep playing the way you're
playing.' We were playing hard.
"We need to play the way we played the last 36 minutes and add
12 on to it," Miller said.
Game notes
A handful of Knicks fans got tickets in the first three
rows despite a public plea from the Pacers asking scalpers not to
sell the best seats to New Yorkers. Spike Lee had a set in the
second row opposite Indiana's bench. One fan who claimed to have
paid $1,250 for his second-row seat was ejected in the fourth
quarter. Another fan sitting next to Lee came close to getting
ejected. ... The Knicks had the lowest-scoring playoff quarter in
their history with the eight points in the second period. The old
record was nine against Philadelphia in 1983. ... Smits played just
12 minutes and didn't score. ... McKey, a non-factor in the first
four games, had a team-high nine rebounds -- four on the offensive
end. No member of the Knicks had more than two.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
New York Clubhouse
Indiana Clubhouse
Best for last: Travis scores 15 in fourth quarter
Ewing fine in return, but his teammates struggle
RECAPS
Indiana 88
New York 79
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jeff Van Gundy explains his team's collapse on Wednesday.
wav: 145 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Larry Bird says a fast start does not mean victory.
wav: 209 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Travis Best talks strategy with ESPN's Melissa Stark.
wav: 150 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Charlie Ward is confident the Knicks will return to form in Game 6.
wav: 118 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Travis Best feels like the Pacers are in a good position.
wav: 104 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
With or without Ewing, ESPN's Ed Pinckney feels the offense needs to improve.
wav: 163 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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