| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- Reggie Miller's only outburst was a two-word
obscenity directed at the fans.
|  | | Saturday was a rough outing for Reggie Miller. |
Miller lost his cool Saturday as the New York Knicks were
dominating the Indiana Pacers in an 87-73 victory. The profanity
came late in the third quarter after a series of physical plays and
flops prompted the fans to direct a derisive chant at one of their
least-favorite villains.
At the time, it seemed like a prelude to another chapter in Miller's series of clutch performances at Madison Square Garden. But instead ...
"Nothing happened," Miller said.
Instead, Miller found himself sitting on the bench for the
entire fourth quarter as the Pacers never mounted a comeback and
matched their most-lopsided loss of the season.
"As hard as it is for me to give the Knicks credit, they played
very well at the defensive end," Miller said. "We had no rhythm
whatsoever. We didn't do the things that got us to this point."
Allan Houston made nine of 10 shots in one stretch, scored 13
points in the third quarter and finished with a team-high 19 as New
York moved into a tie with Miami for first place in the Atlantic
Division for the first time since Jan. 30.
In as dominant a victory as the Knicks have had this season
against a quality opponent, Latrell Sprewell added 17 points,
Patrick Ewing had 16 and Larry Johnson and John Wallace scored 12
apiece.
Miller finished with 16 points to lead the Pacers, who had their
four-game winning streak snapped in their lowest-scoring game of
the season.
"With the way we were playing team defense he probably got
frustrated," said Chris Childs, who was Miller's main antagonist
this time. "Calls went against him that he usually gets, but I
don't think anything gets under Reggie's skin with as long as he's
been playing this game."
It was New York's first game since losing point guard Charlie
Ward for 3-4 weeks with a broken finger. Coach Jeff Van Gundy
started a big backcourt of Houston and Sprewell for the first time
since Dec. 25 -- the day the Knicks lost at Indiana -- and kept
Childs in a backup role.
Childs played well, tying his season-high with nine assists and
contributing to Miller's outburst by matching him flop for flop.
It was during Childs' and Miller's third-quarter flopfest that
the crowd started getting on Miller. A pair of quick fouls on
Miller while battling for position with Childs -- along with a rare
missed free throw by Miller -- spurred the crowd to start an obscene
chant.
Miller then turned to the crowd and mouthed an obscenity.
"I wasn't flopping. I got hit in the jaw," Childs said. "It's a call he normally gets, so he had a taste of his own medicine."
Miller begged to differ, saying Childs was indeed "flopping."
"You have the refs in your hip pocket like that and I'd keep
doing it too," Miller said.
Told of Miller's comment, Childs was aghast.
"Me? You guys know I don't have the referees in any of my
pockets," said Childs, who has long complained that the officials
treat him unfairly.
The Knicks took the lead for good on a 19-footer by Houston with
3:05 left in the first quarter, and their advantage quickly grew to
double digits as a driving layup by Wallace 3½ minutes into the
second quarter made it 33-22.
Jalen Rose scored six straight points to cut Indiana's deficit
to three, 42-39, but the advantage was back to seven by halftime
and the Pacers only fell further behind the rest of the way.
Rose scored 12, snapping his streak of seven straight games
scoring at least 20.
Houston hit three straight jumpers midway through the third to
make it 57-43, and Wallace's basket late in the third put New York
ahead by 18. That was when Miller started going at it with the
crowd, and this time -- unlike so many Pacers-Knicks games in the
past -- he had no fourth-quarter heroics up his sleeve.
Game notes
Pacers center Rik Smits sat out his second straight game
with a sore back. ... Dale Davis grabbed nine rebounds in the first quarter and 16 overall but shot 0-for-9 from the field and did not score. ... As expected, the Knicks placed Ward on the injured list. The Knicks are expected to sign ex-Pacer Etdrick Bohannon to a 10-day contract. The 6-foot-9 forward has been averaging 12.6 points and 10.7 rebounds for Fort Wayne of the CBA. ... Indiana forward Chris Mullin, a collegiate star in New York at St. John's, chatted before the game with ex-Redmen coaches Lou Carnesecca and Brian Mahoney. ... The starting time for the Knicks' game next Sunday against Philadelphia has been moved from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET.
| |
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Indiana Clubhouse
New York Clubhouse
RECAPS
New York 87
Indiana 73
Utah 91
Detroit 87
Chicago 74
LA Clippers 72
Vancouver 111
Milwaukee 100
Seattle 94
Boston 91
|
