Playoffs 2000:Frozen moment: Reggie's shooting sets tone

Frozen moment: Reggie's shooting sets tone
By Greg Collins
ESPN.com


	Miller got going early and finished up with his best game of the series.

INDIANAPOLIS -- You can say a lot of things about Reggie Miller, but the Pacer sharpshooter is a man of his word.

When he suffered through a 1-for-16 shooting night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, he said he'd keep shooting. When he took just two shots in the fourth quarter of Game 2, he said he knew the Pacers needed him to show up at the end of games.

Hitting his first field-goal attempt in Sunday's Game 3 was a sign of things to come. Miller finished with a team-high 33 points, but nothing was as impressive as back-to-back baskets he hit in the third quarter of the Pacers' 100-91 victory at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Indiana had rattled off a 12-0 run to push a five-point lead to 17. But the Lakers punched back, cutting the Pacers' lead to 71-58. That's when Reggie took over.

Isolated on the left side, hovering just inside the 3-point line, Miller faced up against Ron Harper -- L.A.'s best on-the-ball defender. Harper's right hand -- one that was responsible for five steals in the game -- was inches from Miller's face.

The shot clock winding down, Miller jab-stepped a few times, finally taking a hard drive toward the key. Harper followed. Then Miller did what he has done thousands of times -- he stepped back to get enough room to free his jumper. With three seconds left on the clock, swish.

A steal by Sam Perkins gave the ball back to the Pacers. Miller led the charge back downcourt, pulling up for a 3-pointer. Swish again. Hello, 18-point lead.

You could see the emotion bottled up by two subpar nights exploding out of Miller, who admitted he's still upset with himself for how he played in Los Angeles. But he also knows that no one puts as much pressure on Reggie Miller as Reggie Miller.

"It always comes down to me," he said. "This is my team -- I've got to step up and I've got to do everything."

Miller thrived when the Pacer offense found its way through him. He hit 11 of 22 from the field in 46 arduous minutes. And even though he still hasn't made a field goal in the fourth quarter, he sank all eight of his free throws -- six coming in the final 2:02, after the Lakers had cut the Pacers' lead to a single digit.

Miller has made a career out of white-hot performances in the playoffs. That is what made his first two Finals games so worrisome for the Pacers. If Reggie didn't get hot -- and soon -- his emotional play would be relegated to summer H-O-R-S-E games in the backyard against sister Cheryl.

But the Lakers could only hold him in check for so long. The dam was bound to burst.

"I've got to let it pour out," Miller said. "I can't play quiet."

Pacer coach Larry Bird remarked that Miller wasn't the only Indiana player showing emotion. What surprised Bird is that even after playing Miller for all 24 minutes of the first half, Reggie still had plenty of fire in the third quarter.

"You waste a lot of energy when you (show emotion)," Bird said. "He was still emotional going into the third quarter, his emotions were pouring out."

Miller's scoring was spread over all four quarters, but his nine points in the third spoke the loudest.

"Reggie scored some big points in the third quarter," Laker point guard Derek Fisher said.

With a few quick flicks of his wrist, Miller changed the tenor of this series. A Laker sweep won't happen. The talk of Miller failing on the biggest stage has been quieted. And now Los Angeles needs to worry about Miller getting on a roll over the next two games at home.