| | LOS ANGELES -- This was the sort of thing that used to happen to Reggie Miller. You would have thought he had grown out of that tendency to stoke himself so emotionally that he flames out before he ever hits the court.
|  | | Reggie Miller never got going in the first NBA Finals game of his career. |
But there he was Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Finals, so emotionally overwrought that he lost his sense of time and space and his identity.
This was the Reggie Miller, age 24, not 34, the Reggie who came to the Forum with his family and friends and fans in the building and embarrassed himself -- no grasp of how to play the game the right way, bad shots and bad decisions.
"Reggie had a game he wouldn't want to take home with him," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said in charitable understatement.
Miller shot too quickly, shot too hard, drove against the wrong guys and got three of his layups whacked back at his face. On one horrendous play, Miller drove and tried a reverse dunk. This play does not live in his arsenal, and he wasn't getting the benefit of luck in the 104-87 wipeout that put the Pacers down 1-0 in the series.
Afterward, Pacers president Donnie Walsh winced. "We were terrible," he said. "I mean at the worst we're at least a smart basketball team. You have to give us that. But we weren't even a smart team tonight."
Think he wasn't talking about Miller?
Reggie is the heart and soul of the Pacers team. Their offense is devoted to getting Miller going, getting Rik Smits some open shots in the hopes he will contribute something, then and only then, seeing if Jalen Rose can catch fire. The Pacers got a little from Smits; they got a little from Rose. They got 18 points from Mark Jackson, and Larry Bird cost his team any chance of winning when he benched his bigger point guard for 7½ minutes of the fourth quarter when the Lakers stretched a six-point lead to 15.
They got nothing from Miller, who apparently had the good sense to shut his mouth while playing out the string during his own personal debacle. No trash talk, but a lot of trashy play.
He was 1-for-16. ONE. He missed all six shots in the first quarter, scored his first points from the free throw line at the 8-minute, 19-second mark of the third, made his only basket on a drive at 5:42 and then, zilch.
Later, Miller said it was better than being 1-for-25, and there were no dissenters. On this night it wasn't going to happen for him. He challenged Shaquille O'Neal early and got his shot blocked. He challenged O'Neal with the Laker lead at four points later in the third quarter, same result. With the game out of hand, Kobe Bryant rose up to knock another one down.
"I couldn't put the ball in the basket, but if they continue to give me those looks and play me like that, it's only a matter of time," Miller said defiantly. "Every one of them felt good."
Was he pressing, trying too hard to deliver in the dramatic style he showed in earlier playoff games -- 41 points against Milwaukee, 40 against Philadelphia, 17 in the fourth quarter of Game 6 against the Knicks?
"No," he said bluntly. "No, three or four were wide-open looks."
And he said he would be back firing away Friday night. "Shooters shoot. If you're a true shooter, a true scorer and you go 0-for-9, you believe you can make eight or nine in a row ... if you are a true shooter, a true scorer."
Miller went into Wednesday's opener talking about the moment, the biggest moment of his career, he said. The same for most of his teammates. He said he is determined to rise to the moment. "The biggest series of our careers, you want to play the best you can, but the good thing about it is there's a game on Friday. This is going to be a long series. It's about the adjustments you make and the way you play after this."
We've all seen Miller psyche himself for a big series. His acknowledged "hatred" for the Knicks is part of that us-against-the-world mentality. He put on that Superman shirt to get to the fans in Milwaukee last month. But when they were finished taking the tally Wednesday, the real Superman was the 320-pound behemoth in gold and purple. Reggie ran around on kryptonite rods.
Because he has to, Larry defended his best player.
"It's tough when a guy carries you all the way and then he gets into his first Final," he said. "He attacked the basket a couple times and didn't get some calls but I liked the way he battled, and we know Reggie. As soon as he gets a couple shots to go he'll be fine. He carried us a long way. He's been awesome in the playoffs. He had one bad night. He's carried us and he'll be back. We don't give up on Reggie Miller. He's too valuable to this team."
When reporters persisted in asking Bird about Miller, he said, "I'm not gonna give up on Reggie. Next game I hope he takes 17 to 25 shots. I have confidence in him."
And Miller did not part the postgame interview stage without tossing a dart at the Lakers. "They weren't physical at all," he said. "The (Knicks) series was physical. It wasn't at all like that tonight."
Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. | |
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