Playoffs 2000:Miller hit the shots, but not the last one

Miller hit the shots, but not the last one
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Reggie Miller had finally found his shooting touch ... until the very end.


	Reggie Miller came within inches of winning Game 4, but he left disappointed.

Held without a fourth-quarter field goal in the first three games of the NBA Finals, Miller scored 35 points Wednesday night but missed a game-winning 3-pointer at the overtime buzzer as the Indiana Pacers fell to the Los Angeles Lakers 120-118.

"I had an open look," said Miller, who scored 19 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

"I was distracted a bit when (Robert) Horry came running out. I knew I had to shoot it higher over his hand, and when you shoot it higher, you have to shoot it longer, but I didn't."

The Pacers trailed by three points, but a foul on Rick Fox before Indiana could inbound the ball sent Miller to the free-throw line with six seconds left. He made the shot, and the Pacers kept possession, setting up a possible tie or an Indiana victory.

Miller, who was 6-for-8 from 3-point range, got the ball on the right side and missed a 3-point attempt as the game ended, giving the Lakers a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 5 is Friday night.

"We finally got some good looks," Miller said. "It's tough when you shoot 50 percent against a good defensive team and still lose."

Coach Larry Bird didn't second-guess the 3-point attempt to win instead of a 2-point shot to tie.

"We had plenty of time to get a good look at the basket, but we wanted to get the ball in Reggie's hands at that time," Bird said. "If we had the 3, we were going to take it. If it was a two, we would have taken that.

"We shot extremely well tonight. It's very disappointing to lose when you shoot that well."

Miller was 9-for-19 from the field. Rik Smits had 24 points for the Pacers, eight in the overtime.

Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal scored 36 points before fouling out with 2:33 left in overtime. After that, Kobe Bryant, who missed Game 3 with a sprained left ankle, scored six of the Lakers' final eight points, including a reverse layup on a rebound to give Los Angeles the winning cushion.

"We just couldn't stop him," Bird said of Bryant.

"There's nothing wrong with his damn ankle," Indiana's Jalen Rose added.

"They executed down the stretch in the overtime," Rose said. "Every time they got the ball they were scoring. You can't allow that. ... You can't have a team scoring on every possession."

Smits was coming off games of four and six points, and foul trouble, as usual, was his biggest problem. He made his first four shots in the opening quarter, going inside on O'Neal and hitting from the outside as well as the Pacers took a 13-8 lead.

Smits left with his second foul with 7:20 left in the first quarter, however, and A.C. Green's three-point play pulled the Lakers within two. That's when Miller began to take over.

His second 3-pointer and four consecutive free throws helped Indiana to an eight-point lead. Less than a minute later, Sam Perkins, celebrating his 39th birthday, hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 27-18, and Indiana built the lead to 10 points four times before O'Neal rallied Los Angeles in the second quarter.

Smits returned midway through the second period and hit his fifth straight basket before his first miss on a block by O'Neal with 5:32 left. Two minutes later, Smits left again with his third foul, and another basket by O'Neal cut the lead to 47-44.

Miller missed one of two free throws -- his first miss after hitting 25 in a row in the series -- and a 5-2 Lakers run pulled them within 50-49 with 1:59 remaining.

Indiana led 54-51 at halftime. The Lakers took the lead in the third quarter and still led late in regulation before another 3-pointer by Perkins with 35 seconds left in regulation tied the score at 104-104.