Indiana Pacers News & Notes

[TheGeneral+]

MIAMI - Insulted by Miami players guaranteeing a deciding seventh game, Ron Artest scored 27 points, helping the Indiana Pacers beat the Heat 73-70 to win the Eastern Conference semifinals Tuesday night.

Indiana won the series 4-2, snapping the Heat's 18-game home winning streak and advancing to the conference finals for the first time since 2000 and the sixth time since 1994.

"You're talking about them playing the team with the best record," Artest said. "How can you say that? How can you guarantee a win when you're up against a team that has done what we've done?"

Indiana advanced to face the Detroit-New Jersey winner in the Eastern Conference finals. The Pistons beat the Nets on Sunday night to force a seventh game Thursday night in Auburn Hills.

In the Western Conference, Sacramento will be at Minnesota for Game 7 on Wednesday night, with the winner advancing to play the Los Angeles Lakers.

It didn't come easily for the Pacers, who shot only 32.4 percent, and turned the ball over 18 times _ nine in the first quarter alone. They also only got seven points from Jermaine O'Neal, who had scored 88 points in the previous three games.

Yet Indiana's offensive ineptitude couldn't even be matched by the Heat, who shot 30.5 percent, the lowest in the franchise's postseason history. Rookie guard Dwyane Wade _ who, along with reserve forward Malik Allen, guaranteed the Game 6 win _ was 10-for-16 from the floor and scored a team-high 24 points.

But the rest of the Heat players combined to shoot only 22.7 percent, making a mere 15 of 66 shots.

"The challenge for our team tonight was to stare one of the great challenges in the face," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "And that is this building, their team, a very strong-willed Miami team, and find a way. And that's exactly what they did."

Reggie Miller had 15 points, and Jamaal Tinsley scored 10 for Indiana, which held a 53-42 rebounding edge and got to the foul line 11 more times than Miami _ making seven more than the Heat, 26-19.

Lamar Odom had 22 points, and Eddie Jones added 16 for Miami, but the team's two leading scorers in the regular season combined to miss 27 of their 38 shots from the floor.

"I am not disappointed in my players or in my team," Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I am more disappointed for them."

Artest hit a pair of free throws with 2:13 left in the third quarter to give the Pacers a 57-47 lead, their biggest of the game. But the Heat responded with a 15-4 run over the next six minutes, taking a 62-61 lead when Wade _ who scored Miami's last eight points in the burst _ hit a short baseline jumper with 8:22 left.

"If we were going out, we were going out fighting," Wade said.

The lead would change hands three more times following Wade's basket, the last coming with 3:39 left when Artest scored to put Indiana ahead 67-66. The Heat missed seven of their last eight shots; Caron Butler, who was 1-for-9, even had a dunk attempt blocked by O'Neal with 1:06 left.

"Our defense kept fighting," Heat center Brian Grant said. "It was probably one of our best defensive efforts of the year. We just couldn't put the ball in the basket."

Miami scored 20 points in the first quarter _ and didn't get out of the teens in any of the last three.

"We needed to play at an unbelievably high level defensively and we needed to find a way to put the ball in the basket," Carlisle said.

Anthony Johnson made two free throws to give Indiana a 73-69 lead with 14.7 seconds to play. Odom then hit a free throw to make it a three-point game.

Artest, who had been 10-of-13 from the free-throw line, missed two with 9.1 seconds left to give the Heat some life. With Wade on the bench, Rafer Alston, the Heat's best 3-point shooter, shot an airball from several feet beyond the arc.

Miller rebounded just before the final buzzer and threw the ball skyward as the final buzzer sounded.

"You can't take anything for granted, and we didn't," Miller said. "But you have to put forth an above-and-beyond type effort, especially on the road."

Notes Butler's steal in the first quarter was his 28th of the postseason, breaking the team record. Tim Hardaway had 27 steals in the 1997 playoffs. ... Among celebrities attending the game were actor David Caruso, rapper Bow Wow and former NFL star Dan Marino.

http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2004/05/19/ap/Sports/d82lg6fo0.txt

 

[TheGeneral+]

AUBURN HILLS — You wanted it, you got it.

The series that Pistons fans have been craving for — the Eastern Conference finals against Rick Carlisle and the hated Indiana Pacers — is finally here.

It opens 8 p.m. Saturday in Indianapolis.

Carlisle coached the Pistons this far into the playoffs last season only to be canned and replaced by Larry Brown. The Pacers then fired former Piston Isiah Thomas so they could hire Carlisle.

Consider this Carlisle’s ultimate opportunity for revenge. He can knock his old team out of, and put his new team into, the NBA Finals all at once.

The Pacers, who have home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series, defeated Boston in four games and Miami in six games to advance to this point.

Indiana won three of the four regular-season games against the Pistons. The teams have a history of animosity, which could be elevated to another level over the course of the next two weeks.

The Pistons will have to contain Jermaine O’Neal, one of the league’s rising stars, and Ron Artest, who was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year ahead of the Pistons’ Ben Wallace.

The Pacers have been an underrated team much of the season despite leading the NBA in victories with 61 — more than the Lakers, Spurs and Timberwolves.

Winning at least once at Conseco Fieldhouse is essential for the Pistons, but it will be a severe challenge. The Pacers were 34-7 at home in the regular season.


http://www.detnews.com/2004/pistons/0405/21/a01-159889.htm

 

[DENIRO]

question for you general

how big is bird in indiana?

bigger than any indy player including reg miller?

bigger than peyton manning?

does he ever get critisized? can he run for governor and win?

is there still bad blood for larry brown in indy?

thanks general

 

[TheGeneral+]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DE NIRO:
question for you general

how big is bird in indiana?

bigger than any indy player including reg miller?

bigger than peyton manning?

does he ever get critisized? can he run for governor and win?

is there still bad blood for larry brown in indy?

thanks general<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Larry is very low key and does not get in the news often. He does not try and get alot of attention. Veru mild man. As far as basketball, I think if you asked 1000 people, bird would get more attention than miller. I do not know if he could win Governor or not. He may need some help in politics. He is very active in the river boat coming into french lick, his hometown. I do not think anyone dislikes brown that much.

 

[TheGeneral+]

Indiana will win if ...

They take care of the ball, and Jermaine O'Neal can establish at least something of a low post presence. On paper these teams are pretty much even, with both featuring stifling defenses. The one big edge Indiana has is O'Neal, a true go-to guy in the post who can draw double teams. Unfortunately for the Pacers, the Pistons have two great defenders in Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace under the basket. O'Neal is going to have to stay aggressive in the post and not settle for too many outside shots, or the Pacers could lose their offensive rhythm. Meanwhile, Jeff Foster must make Detroit pay by hitting those layups and open shots created by all the attention on O'Neal. The other key for Indiana is to avoid turnovers. Detroit loves to pressure the ball, especially with backups Mike James and Lindsey Hunter, in an effort to get steals and easy baskets. Pacers point guard Jamaal Tinsley and backup Anthony Johnson must be ready to handle it. Defensively, Indiana should be OK. The Pistons are a team that relies a lot on its outside shooting. The Pacers should be able to contain them, especially with O'Neal to protect the basket and Artest available to defend whichever Pistons player gets hot. Indiana owned the NBA's best record during the season (61-21) and has a real homecourt advantage at Conseco Fieldhouse. And Rick Carlisle surely will have his team ready against his former Pistons club.

Detroit will win if ...

They can find a third scorer each night to go with Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton. The Pistons' D throttled Indiana in a 79-61 victory back in April, their only meeting after the Rasheed Wallace trade. Although the Pacers might not have been as prepared as they will be now, it's a safe bet Detroit will be able to slow them down. But the Pistons have problems on the offensive end. Ben Wallace has no low-post game, and Rasheed Wallace probably won't get much inside against O'Neal. The Pistons are going to need either Tayshaun Prince or Corliss Williamson to find ways to score on a night-to-night basis to give them a chance. Detroit will try to take advantage of aging Reggie Miller by having Hamilton run him off screens. They also hope Billups can use dribble penetration to collapse Indy's defense in the paint and then find perimeter shooters. If Detroit can find a way to rack up even around 80 points or so, it might be enough. The Pistons arguably have a better defense and more weapons than the Pacers. They rebound well and don't commit a lot of turnovers. They have a Hall of Fame coach in Larry Brown. They have the confidence of knowing they dominated Indiana in their only significant head-to-head matchup. But Rasheed Wallace must be able to play through his sore left foot, and their backcourt must come up big. Also, they must find a way to win at least one in Indy.

Key matchup

O'Neal vs. Rasheed Wallace. They know each other well, having spent four seasons as teammates in Portland. O'Neal has grown tremendously since then, blossoming into a force at both ends. Wallace, though hobbled, is a long-armed pest on defense and a dangerous three-point shooter. O'Neal must find a way to give Indiana a low-post presence. On defense, he must help patrol the lane and rebound while not letting Wallace drift out for too many open jumpers. Rasheed's goals are to hit those ouside shots to keep O'Neal honest, and use his length on defense to make it hard for O'Neal to get good looks inside. If he needs help, Big Ben will be there to provide it.

Interesting fact

Carlisle, who was let go by the Pistons last summer after back-to-back 50-win seasons, isn't the only coach in this series with ties to his opponent. Detroit coach Larry Brown spent four seasons as Pacers coach, guiding them to the Eastern Conference finals in '94 and '95.


The pick

The Pistons have a tremendous defense, but they lack a clear-cut go-to guy. The Pacers are not quite as good defensively, but they're mentally strong and they know their roles on offense. It will be a close hard-fought series, with homecourt advantage likely to be the deciding factor. Pacers in 7.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com

 

[TheGeneral+]

The Indiana Pacers have never lost a playoff game in their Conseco Fieldhouse.







The Detroit Pistons will need to change that to reach the NBA Finals.

The Pistons barely fell short in their first try Saturday, suffering 78-74 loss in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Reggie Miller nailed a clutch 3-point basket with 31.7 seconds remaining as the Pacers overcame big games by Detroit's Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace.

The Pistons will try to solve the Conseco Fieldhouse jinx on Monday in Game 2.

The Pacers are 6-0 in home playoff games, and have won 14 straight games at their arena since losing March 19 to Sacramento.

Hamilton scored 23 points and Ben Wallace had 11 points and 22 rebounds, but it wasn't enough in Game 1.

Although the Pistons were less rested after Thursday's Game 7 semifinal victory over the New Jersey Nets and were playing on the road, the visitors pushed the tempo in the first quarter and led 19-10 early.

Detroit's Chauncey Billups connected for 13 points in the opening quarter.

The Pacers fought back behind forwards Jermaine O'Neal and Al Harrington to cut the margin to 26-22 at the buzzer, and tied it early in the second quarter. After their early shooting woes the Pacers made nine of their next 13 field goal tries. Indiana went to intermission ahead 48-41.

The Pacers retained the lead through the third quarter despite being held to 13 points, matching their playoff low, and led only 61-58 going into the fourth.

Detroit forged ahead in the final frame behind Hamilton and Ben Wallace, who scored on an alley-oop dunk and then again on a spin move. A jumper by Mehmet Okur made it 68-65 with 7:45 left.

The Pacers countered with a 7-0 run. Prince ended it by knocking down a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:40 left to put Detroit ahead 74-72.

Indiana's Jeff Foster tied the game with a driving layup and then saved a rebound from going out of bounds, setting the stage for Miller's basket.

A Hamilton 3-point try bounced out with 20 seconds remaining. O'Neal was fouled on the rebound but missed both foul shots.

The Pistons set up a good 3-point try by Billups with 13 seconds to go, but it bounced off the rim and a follow-up try by Rasheed Wallace also missed. Miller was fouled and made 1-of-2 to seal the win.

O'Neal had 21 points for Indiana.

http://www.lenconnect.com/articles/2004/05/23/sports/sports2.txt

 

[TheGeneral+]

ndianapolis — (05/24/04) The Indiana Pacers hope to repeat their Game One victory tonight when they try to go two-up on the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Pacers needed some last-minute heroics from Reggie Miller in their 78-to-74 victory in Saturday night's opener.

Miller hit his only basket, a three-pointer, and added a free throw in the final 27 seconds in Game One.

The Pacers are unbeaten at home in the playoffs at 6-and-0.

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/sports/052404_SP_r2_pacers_pistons.html

 

[TheGeneral+]

While Rasheed Wallace did little to support his guarantee of victory in last night's game, the rest of the Pistons came through to make 'Sheed's words ring true.

Now the Pistons have grabbed the home-court edge and head back to Motown with the series knotted at one game apiece. While no one has guaranteed a victory in Game 3 yet, we'd love for someone to guarantee some frigging scoring already.

The final tally has been so damn low each time; it's like these teams are balling before the advent of the shot clock. Seriously, was that Jimmy Chitwood out there?

Bow down before the Royal Highness of Detroit, Tayshaun Prince. Prince and his gangly arms preserved last night's series-evening win for the Pistons as he came out of left field to swat Reggie Miller's breakaway layup attempt that would have tied the game with about 15 seconds to play.

Having watched Prince make this kind of rejection numerous times before, we could see the play unfolding as soon as Jamaal Tinsley tossed a cherry-picking Miller the rock. Unfortunately for Indiana, Reggie didn't heed our screamed warning to dunk the ball and instead slowed up for the traditional deuce, only to be shocked and awed by Prince's recovery skills.

If you haven't seen the replay yet, don't fret, you will soon. They only have it from about 10 different angles, each more amazing than the last.

As awe-inspiring as the rejection was, Rip Hamilton was the reason the Pistons owned the lead at that time. He dominated down the stretch, netting 13 of the team's final 15 points on his way to a game-high 23 points.

The story of the game, as it will likely be with all the games, was the stifling defense. The Pistons held Indiana to just 27.5 percent shooting and swatted 19 total shots, just one block shy of the NBA playoff record set back in 1981 by the Sixers.

Rasheed and Ben Wallace and Prince combined to deny 13 shots between them. Compare that with their cumulative total of 20 points scored and you can see why this game was both an offensive and defensive struggle in every sense of the word.

Anyone else catch the replay of Rasheed Wallace just after the final horn sounded where he's screaming at the Indiana faithful, "I told you so."

He also was yelling some other things that we can't print here.

Clearly focused on the task at hand, Al Harrington cruised into the arena in a brand spanking new Rolls Royce. Jermaine O'Neal claimed to have purchased a similar one for about $330, 000.00 prompting Reggie to joke, "What, does it talk to you?"

No, Reggie. Only David Hasselhoff got that privilege.

In the Lakers-T-Wolves game marred by technical fouls — eight in all — Malone's shoulder to Darrick Martin's throat as Martin attempted to set a pick drew the harshest penalty: a flagrant-2 foul and an ejection.

For this transgression, the Fun Police slapped the Mailman (on the wrist) with a $7,500 fine. We're not saying that the old head got preferential treatment, but we strongly feel that if Ron Artest was in Malone's kicks, he'd be looking at a one-game suspension right now.

Marcus Fizer's knee is still causing him problems. That's why he opted for another surgery last Tuesday that should keep him out for approximately six months.

By then, Fizer should be healed in time for training camp. Now all he's got to do is find a team since he's an unrestricted free agent. We're going out on a limb here when we say that last season wasn't quite the contract year Fizer had envisioned.

Rumor has it that the expansion Bobcats are looking for an NBA ready player and may be eyeing college's most-decorated player last year, St. Joe's point guard Jameer Nelson with the No. 4 overall pick.

We're not hinting at anything, but this situation sounds eerily familiar to Toronto and their selection of Damon Stoudamire. Damon, as you may remember, won rookie-of-the-year honors.

We're out like easy layups.


http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=2430706

 

[TheGeneral+]

INDIANAPOLIS -- The finger pointing has begun for the Indiana Pacers.

Believe it or not, the Pacers consider that a good thing.

That's because players aren't pointing the blame at their teammates for Indiana's poor offensive production against the Detroit Pistons in the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals -- they're putting the blame on themselves individually.

Ron Artest was his own harshest critic following the Pacers' 72-67 loss Monday night at Conseco Fieldhouse, a loss that evened the series at one victory apiece. After shooting 5-for-21 from the field, Artest said, "The game was probably mostly my fault."

That type of self-criticism is music to the ears of his teammates and coaches.

"Individually, you're going to say that," forward Jermaine O'Neal said. "That's the first step toward excelling in this league, is pointing the finger at yourself and not pointing the finger at other people. You don't want those type of people on your team that's going to point fingers at other people when you know you didn't play your best possible game."

O'Neal then proceeded to critique his own equally dreadful performance. The All-Star forward missed all eight of his field-goal attempts in the second half after making 6 of 10 shots for 16 points in the first half.

"I got shut out," O'Neal said. "That should never happen. I should never go 0-for-8 in the second half."

Indiana coach Rick Carlisle doesn't want Artest and O'Neal taking all the heat for the team's offensive struggles. To Carlisle, the blame can be spread around to every man on the roster and every member of the coaching staff. That's the type of culture he's tried to cultivate since arriving in Indiana last summer.

"If you're going to have a real team, a true team, you've got to have guys who are willing to be accountable," Carlisle said. "I like the fact we have guys who are stand-up guys and are willing to say, 'Hey, I can do better.' On the other hand, it falls on all of us to be better, from the coaches on down to the guys who are in street clothes and aren't on the playoff roster."

Artest went to work Tuesday in an effort to make sure he doesn't have more games like Monday. He was the last Pacer to leave the practice floor, 15 minutes after everyone else had gone. He took shot after shot in an effort to regain his stroke.

Artest came into the series shooting 43.2 percent from the floor and leading the team with a 21.0 points-per-game average, but he's shooting 25 percent (11-for-44) and averaging 15 points in the first two games against Detroit.

Artest is being guarded by lanky Tayshaun Prince, but feels at times he's going up against more than just Prince.

"I actually got some layups, but the refs are protecting the smaller Tayshaun a little bit," Artest said. "I've still got to go to the hole. I've still got to finish."

http://www.mlive.com

 

[TheGeneral+]

If you like NBA games that end with point totals resembling Arena Football League scores, you gotta love the Detroit Pistons-Indiana Pacers Eastern Conference playoff finals.

After two games in Indiana that were remembered as much for the offensive futility of both teams as they were for their last-second finishes, playing at The Palace Wednesday night produced another low-scoring affair as the Pistons held on for an 85-78 win.

One of the few offensive standouts was Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace, who scored 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field.

The Pistons were in control most of the game, and led by 11 points with 4:21 to play before the Pacers went on a 10-0 run to cut Detroit's lead to 76-75 with 1:50 to play following an Austin Croshere dunk.

The Pistons didn't regain control until Rasheed Wallace's missed shot was rebounded and then put back in by Ben Wallace to give Detroit an 82-78 lead with 31.7 seconds to play.

Richard Hamilton, who also had 20 points for Detroit -- it was his 25th 20-point effort in 32 playoff games -- scored the final three points, from the free-throw line.

Detroit now leads the best-of-seven series, 2-1, with Game 4 at The Palace on Friday.

Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle probably summed up Wednesday's game -- and the previous two games, for that matter -- best.

"It was obviously a very tough game; hard to score and hard to get good shots," said Carlisle.

Especially for his Pacers team, which shot 34.7 percent from the field, the third time in as many games that Indiana shot less than 35 percent from the field.

"You're not going to win when you're shooting that badly," said Pacers forward Ron Artest, who had 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field.

Added Carlisle: "When we look back, the shooting percentage certainly stands out."

The first and fourth quarters stood out, but for a different reason -- the shooting was actually good.

In the first quarter, the Pistons jumped out to a 27-14 lead.

In the fourth, the teams combined for 62 points, almost as many as the 66 (36-30, Pistons) they combined to score in the first half.

"They made a lot of shots (in the fourth quarter) and so did we," said Pistons coach Larry Brown. "But we got stops when we needed to."

The Pistons were able to overcome a nine-point second quarter, the worst offensive performance in a quarter in franchise history.

The Pistons went scoreless in their first 12 possessions of the quarter -- for 7:29 -- as Indiana trimmed Detroit's lead to 27-26.

But Brown had a different take on the quarter.

"That was probably as good a quarter as we've played in this series," Brown said. "Any other team would have been down by 20 (at the half), when you get 10 turnovers and nine points. But you have to give them credit. They rebounded, they made hustle plays."

This series features teams that hustle a lot and play solid defense. Ultimately, the team that emerges the winner will probably be the team that can make some shots.

The Pistons have shown signs of getting better offensively, while the Pacers have shown no progress.

"We definitely feel good about the way we're playing defensively, and our offense is getting better," said Detroit's Corliss Williamson. "But man, all we're trying to do is win games. That's all. This time of year, that's all you're really thinking about."

http://www.mlive.com

 

[TheGeneral+]

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - It is the end of the game, at the end of the court, and the basketball winds up in the neighborhood of Pacers guard Reggie Miller, the NBA's all-time king of the long shot. Just a split-second before the horn sounds to signify the finality of the Pistons' 85-78 Eastern Conference finals victory over Indiana Wednesday night, Miller kicks the ball into the stands.

"I just wanted to give little Johnny a souvenir," Miller would say later.

It was one of the few times all night in which Miller got remotely close to the ball, and one of the fewer times that he launched it. Maybe it was a sign of things to come, or perhaps will come.

If the Indiana Pacers have any chance to reach the NBA Finals, they're going to have to win tonight in Game 4 to prevent going down 3-1 in the series. And to win, Miller cannot duplicate Wednesday night's performance of three points on 1-of-4 shooting, including going without a field goal attempt in the first half.

"Obviously I've got to be more aggressive at the offensive end, but we've won a lot of ball games with me taking less shots," said Miller, whose three-pointer with 31 seconds left in Game 1 was his only field goal of the night. He then returned in Game 2 with 21 points, although the Pacers lost.

"(With) the impact and magnitude of the Eastern Conference finals, yeah, you want to get more looks," Miller said. "I feel the more looks I get, I can knock down a few of them. But all year, most of the shots have gone to Jermaine (O'Neal), Al (Harrington) and Ron (Artest). So we're not going to come up with gimmicks or schemes to now shoot 12 to 20 times when I haven't done it all year."

But the Pacers need to find life somewhere offensively. Although certainly Detroit's smothering defense has contributed greatly to Indiana's offensive woes, the Pacers have also coughed up their share of air balls.

"We've had a lot of shots that are open - wide open - and we're just not knockin' 'em down," Miller said.

The greatest sign of life came in the fourth quarter Wednesday, when the Pacers scored 33 points. Although the field-goal percentage was still subpar (8 of 20), Indiana managed to make 14 of 15 shots from the free-throw line, including a combined 9 of 9 from Artest and O'Neal.

Still, the Pacers' shooting has been suspect, and has been for the last several games.

Wednesday night's .347 percentage (25 of 72) was the fourth consecutive playoff game in which the Pacers have shot less than 35 percent. In Game 2, they were 22 of 80 for 27.5 percent. In Game 1, they were 28 of 83 for 33.7 percent. And in Game 6 of the semifinal series with Miami, the Pacers shot 22 of 68 for 32.4 percent.

"This series is far from over, first of all," O'Neal said. "I feel pretty good about our chances. I know it's going to come around for us. We've got too many good shooters. It's just us going out and knocking 'em down. It's going to be there when we really, really need it, and that's going to be Game 4."

Even Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said that the Pacers are having trouble shooting the ball now - a miserable time to go into a shooting slump.

"We have some tough luck with good shots," Carlisle said. "That will happen. There are certainly a lot of things we can improve on."

Detroit forward Tayshaun Prince guessed it would be too late for the Pacers to change much at this juncture of the season.

"There aren't going to be any surprises now," Prince said. "They know us. We know them. They know what we're going to do and we know what they're going to do. Both teams have scouted each other so much that there aren't going to be new things."

But at least there could be some suggestions.

Miller, for one, thinks that O'Neal getting the ball inside is the key to the Pacers finding their offense.

"He needs to get more shots," Miller said. "Jermaine needs to be shooting upwards to 25 times a game. We've got to do a better job of finding ways to get the ball into him, even when he's getting fronted, three-quartered. It's my job - Jamaal's (Tinsley), myself, and especially Anthony (Johnson) and Ron - to get the ball inside. That's where our kick-outs and shots for myself from the perimeter come from - inside out. He (O'Neal) has to get at least 30, 40 touches a night."

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/sports/8783853.htm

 

[TheGeneral+]

Coach Rick Carlisle starts Austin Croshere, and the 'forgotten' player helps Indiana get even with Detroit.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Mr. Inflexible dusted off Mr. Forgotten, and the Indiana Pacers evened the Eastern Conference finals with their best all-around effort of the series.

Austin Croshere made his first start in more than two years and scored 14 points Friday night, providing the Pacers with a much-needed extra offensive option in an 83-68 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

"It was a little bit of a gamble because defensively you don't get the same type of activity that you do with (Jeff) Foster, but Austin changed the game," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "I just thought it was a gamble worth taking. It's certainly not a cure-all."

Getting off to a rare good start and sustaining a respectable shooting percentage, the Pacers tied the series at two games apiece, avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season and regained the home court advantage for what's now a best-of-three series.

Carlisle pulled a surprise by turning to Croshere in place of Foster -- a move even more stunning because it was made by a coach whose resistance to change has been cited as one of his negative personality quirks.

"Rick likes to pretty much keep it simple -- he's not one of those guys that likes to change his lineup or change the style his team plays from game to game, but tonight was definitely a change for the better," Pacers guard Anthony Johnson said.

Croshere, who averaged only five points this season -- his sixth in the league -- hadn't contributed much of anything since the 2000 NBA Finals when he scored a career-high 24 points against the Los Angeles Lakers and was rewarded with a seven-year, $51 million contract.

Croshere, whose scoring average dropped from 10.1 points to 6.8 to 5.1 in his first three seasons after signing the big contract, didn't even play in three of the Pacers' first 13 playoff games.

"To get the opportunity to step up in a game like this, it's great," said Croshere, whose six points and five rebounds in the fourth quarter of Game 3 prompted Carlisle to make the change.

"We wanted to take advantage of the way they were collapsing on our big guys," Croshere said. "If Jermaine (O'Neal) beat someone, there was another shot blocker there. But with me being on the perimeter, it really spread the floor."

Croshere ended the first half with a three-pointer and began the second half with another to put the Pacers ahead 52-39.

Moments later, he was left wide open at the three-point line. As Pistons fans groaned, Croshere nailed the shot for a 17-point lead that eventually grew as large as 23.

"We can't play any worse than we did tonight," Pistons coach Larry Brown said. "We weren't ready to play, and that's on me."

The series resumes Sunday in Indianapolis, with Game 6 back in Auburn Hills on Tuesday night.

After struggling to score throughout most of Games 2 and 3, it was a different story for Indiana in Game 4.

With the addition of another outside shooting threat preventing the Pistons from sending extra defenders inside, everyone on the Pacers benefited. Ron Artest scored 20 points, Reggie Miller added 15 and O'Neal had 12. Artest also had 10 rebounds and four assists.

The Pacers got a scare late in the period when O'Neal landed awkwardly while going for a rebound and mildly sprained his left knee. Detroit had a 7-0 run early in the second quarter while O'Neal went to the locker room for a checkup.

He returned less than two minutes into the period and spurred the Pacers to a 6-0 run as the Pistons began getting sloppy with the ball and turning it over.

http://www.oregonlive.com

 

[TheGeneral+]

DETROIT at INDIANA The straight-up winner is 12-2-1 ATS the past 15 clashes.
Detroit had covered four straight versus Indiana dating back to the final regular season meeting prior to getting upset at home, 83-68, Friday in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series. Friday's victory improved Indiana's record to 1-7-1 ATS in its last nine games. Detroit is 27-21 SU and 26-18 ATS on the road this year. The Pistons snapped snapped Indiana's 14-game home winning streak with a 72-67 upset of the Pacers as a 3 ½-point underdog in Game 2 at the Conseco Fieldhouse. They had also covered the series' opener as a 5 ½-point road dog in a 78-74 loss. In all, Detroit has covered 14 of its last 20 on the road.

Indiana is 40-8 SU and 26-19 ATS at home.

Nine of the last 10 meetings have stayed under the total, including three of the first four games in this series. The Pistons are 29-17 under on the road this season.

http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=2445464

 

[TheGeneral+]

As the Detroit Pistons walked off the floor, a few dozen fans clad in red, white and blue serenaded them with a chant of "Beat L.A.!"

Forgive those folks for getting ahead of themselves, both with the results of this series and the one in the West. Given the way the Pistons played in Game 5, it's looking quite likely that Detroit will make it to the championship round.

Richard "Rip" Hamilton scored a career playoff high 33 points, 12 of them coming in succession when the Pistons took the lead for good in a 83-65 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night for a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

"Even coming out warming up, there were a lot of fans out there chanting 'Go Pistons,'" Detroit forward Corliss Williamson said. "It's nice to know that we have fans that are faithful enough to follow us here."

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/sports/8802179.htm

 

[NEWPORT]

Pacers are ........well ..........the pacers

 

[TheGeneral+]

Judging by the way he dodged specific questions Monday, Rick Carlisle could have a surprise up his sleeve for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.

"I'm not going to talk about lineups, matchups or anything like that,' Carlisle said on the eve of the Indiana' Pacers biggest game of the season.

Carlisle's surprise, if he has one, likely would involve finding a way to defend Richard Hamilton, whose 33-point outburst in Game 5 gave control of the best-of-seven series to the Detroit Pistons.

Indiana has had some success when Ron Artest has been the main defender against Hamilton, though Reggie Miller has started each game with that assignment.

And while Artest has been lobbying publicly to take over as the primary Hamilton-stopper, Carlisle feels Artest is equally or more effective as a weakside defender against Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace.

"Any move you make like that is going to have an impact somewhere else in the game,' Carlisle said. "We've got to figure out the right percentages and where to put people in those situations.'

Artest missed practice Monday because of a migraine headache, and Jermaine O'Neal (knee) and Jamaal Tinsley (leg injuries) were listed as game-time decisions.

O'Neal declined to speak to the media, and thus did not clear up the confusion over whether his injured left knee was drained of fluid. The Pacers coaching staff said it was drained Sunday afternoon, though O'Neal claimed it wasn't.

Miller also left practice without speaking to reporters, thereby offering no insight into what he feels would work best against Hamilton, who is averaging 24.2 points in the series.

Many of the other Pacers expressed disappointment some even said it was embarrassing to let the Pistons come into their building and take control of the series.

Indiana has to win Game 6 on the road, then win Game 7 at home to become just the eighth team in NBA history to rally from a 3-2 deficit.

"Knowing that we beat them in that building twice this year, there's no reason we can't do it again,' said Austin Croshere, who was 0 of 7 from the field in Game 5 after being the difference-maker in Game 4. "I think we need to bring the energy that we had in Game 4 and find a way to slow Richard Hamilton down.

"How do you do that? Mmaybe it's with energy, maybe it's with throwing more bodies at him. Obviously, it's important to do it early because when he gets into a rhythm like that, he feels he can hit anything he throws up there. He's hitting runners, floaters, one-dribble shots, two-dribble shots, spot-up shots, you name it.'

Among Carlisle's options against Hamilton could be a continued increased role for second-year guard Fred Jones, who played 26 minutes in Game 5 and tied for team-high scoring honors with 13 points.

Carlisle noted that Jones and Miller have had some success chasing Hamilton around screens, though he acknowledged Artest has been the club's best defender against Hamilton in one-on-one situations.

Deciding who defends Hamilton is only one of the many questions Carlisle must answer. Among the others:

What will he do if O'Neal's knee injury makes him as ineffective as he was in Game 4, when he scored only 11 points and took just 10 shots?

How long will he stick with Tinsley, whose injuries to his ankle, knee and hamstring have left him limping around the court?

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com

 

[TheGeneral+]

The Pistons are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since the Bad Boys heyday in 1990 and they've done it by focusing on the same exact thing — defense.

While last night's game was more of a clinic on how not to play to offense than a demonstration of lockdown defense, the point is still made. In fact, the 60 combined first-half points established an NBA playoff record for futility.

This comes on the heels of Game 2's record-setting "effort" of just 59 combined points in the second half. We can actually hear Don Nelson cringing. In the end it doesn't matter, because the Pistons will be the team representing the East against a Lakers' squad poised for their fourth championship in five years.

The early line has the Lake Show by 7 points in Game 1. As for last night's series-clinching victory, the Pistons once again benefited from key plays by Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince.

With the score deadlocked at 59 all, Rip butted into Ron Artest and then caught a retaliatory cheap shot forearm from Ron Artest that drew a flagrant foul. Rip then drained both freebies for the Pistons first lead of the entire game — a lead that they never relinquished.

Shortly thereafter, Tayshaun went to work with an impeccably timed rejection on a dunk attempt, followed by a crucial jumper to extend Detroit's lead with less than a minute to play before capping it off with a great find of Ben Wallace for the nail-in-the-coffin dunk off a seemingly well-covered inbounds play.

The game, and potentially the series, might have turned out differently if Jamaal Tinsley were healthy instead of being forced to gut it out on one healthy leg.

The Abuser gave it one more go last night before getting pulled just 3 minutes into the game when it was clear he was not going to be a help to the team.

We bet Sam Cassell can sympathize.

Let us be the first to say farewell to Reggie Miller. Once known for his clutch shooting, especially in the playoffs, Miller managed just 6 points on 2-for-8 shooting. Reggie and the tired cliche of "Miller Time" truly jumped the shark when he bricked a technical free throw late in the fourth quarter and then abruptly missed a crucial, wide-open 3-pointer.

Now what's all of this foolishness about Miller joining the Olympic Team? Please. Of the six games against Detroit, Reggie scored 6 points or fewer four times.

Stick a fork in him!

Recognizing that familiar lump of anguish growing in his chest just waiting for either team to explode after another especially long field goal drought in the third quarter, one of our boys declared, "It's like watching hockey where every shot could mean the end of the game."

That's true! We're sorry, Clockwork, but it has to be said. Big Ben is the only player in the league who becomes exponentially worse the closer he gets to the bucket while in control of the ball.

Have you ever seen a pro player miss as many shots from 3 feet and closer as Wallace so often does?

As ugly as his jumper is, we're willing to bet he's better off shooting it from wherever he may be on the floor than taking the chance of advancing it closer to the hoop. It's uncanny.

By the way Ben, congratulations on the invite to join the Olympic Team.

We're out like the Pacers.


http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=2453744