The Reggie Miller-Michael Jordan battle needs a rewind
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00It's May 25th, 1998. We're in Indiana for pivotal Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the dynastic Chicago Bulls and legitimate challengers to the throne, the Indiana Pacers.
00:13See how legitimate? Only down one with 2.9 seconds to go, and the ball.
00:20With a basket here, Indiana could tie up this series.
00:23Could, being the operative word, the Bulls do not plan to let that happen.
00:28Not just because they want to win, but because it's the Pacers.
00:34I'll explain. Let's rewind.
00:58You might have noticed that the Pacers are all bald. It's not genetics, and it's not just because it looks so good.
01:06Rather, in a rally cry and show of togetherness, the 98 Pacers all shaved their heads before the playoffs.
01:13Because these playoffs are special.
01:15Yeah, they've been to the Eastern Conference Finals before, but nobody expected them to be here this year.
01:22Not that long ago, the Pacers twice knocked on the finals door, saw it open a crack, slipped their foot in, and then tried to jam the rest of their body over the threshold to no avail.
01:32In other words, they twice in a row made it to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals and lost.
01:38But that's okay. Third time's the charm.
01:41Oh, God, the charm is cursed. Throw it back in the ocean.
01:44I said throw it back in the ocean!
01:46In 96, Reggie Miller was injured during the playoffs.
01:51But what happened in 97?
01:54Rick Smiths missed a lot of time with foot issues, Coach Larry Brown was on his way out,
01:58and the franchise made some bad moves before the season, which, to their credit, they tried to fix.
02:05In the summer of 96, they traded away point guard Mark Jackson, who was good at assists, but kind of slow and not a great defender.
02:13Then, they went 14-16 and panicked.
02:17At the trade deadline, they got Mark Jackson back, and no hard feelings, he's their starting point guard again.
02:24Well, I mean, no hard feelings other than the pain of not making the playoffs.
02:28This season, with Jackson on board from the start, Rick Smiths healthy, and rookie coach Larry Bird,
02:34the goal was merely to make the playoffs.
02:37And that seemed like a lofty goal for an aging, predictable team.
02:42And preseason forecasts had them finishing 10th.
02:46Except in Indiana.
02:47They thought making the playoffs was a reasonable goal.
02:50But they might have been biased.
02:53Or on to something?
02:55Because the Pacers finished not 10th, not 8th, but 3rd in the East.
03:01Turns out superstars make good coaches.
03:05Bird elevated Jalen Rose and Travis Best, neither of whom Larry Brown played that much.
03:09But those guys could create off the dribble, which freed up Reggie Miller from double teams,
03:15and also varied their formerly predictable offense of Miller on the outside, Smiths on the inside.
03:21The Pacers got through the first two rounds of the playoffs with just two losses.
03:25Which meant they were back in the Eastern Conference Finals.
03:29Hey, their opponents have a shaved head guy too.
03:33Oh, god.
03:34Game over.
03:34It's Michael Jordan.
03:36Why the Pacers show of solidarity was to all get Michael Jordan's haircut, I don't know.
03:41But the overall problem here is that Michael Jordan's Bulls are...
03:47Very good.
03:49They're expected to three-peat this year.
03:52Especially because Coach Phil Jackson is likely leaving after this season.
03:56So it's kind of like their last dance...
03:58Oh, excuse me, misspoke.
04:00Their last chance to add to their dynasty.
04:03This season, they went 62-20 and breezed through the playoffs.
04:08Although the press was searching for chinks in their armor.
04:11Yeah, they swept the first round.
04:13But, uh, one game went into overtime.
04:16So, is that anything?
04:19In round two, they lost a home game to Charlotte by two points.
04:23Or, as was written in the Indiana Press, Chicago struggled to dispose of Charlotte.
04:29It's a little bit about selling papers and a little bit about having hope.
04:34Larry Bird found no solace in these struggles.
04:37Because, uh, Michael Jordan was averaging 32 points a game through the first two rounds.
04:43Bulls are doing just fine.
04:45They did have a legitimate moment of struggle at the end of the regular season.
04:48Fourth to last game, at home, a 105-114 loss to the...
04:55Oh, would you look at that.
04:57The Pacers.
04:59This was a huge mental gain for our bald buddies.
05:03And it was more than just dealing a home loss to the unbeatable team.
05:07It was how the Pacers did it.
05:10Their star outplayed Jordan.
05:12MJ shot 7 of 19 in the face of increased physicality from Indiana's defense.
05:17And he was irritated.
05:20After a hard foul from Mark Jackson in the third quarter, a 3 of 11 Jordan chucked the
05:25ball at Jackson's head and then got into it with Reggie Miller.
05:29Pretty rare to see Jordan lose his cool like that.
05:32And I imagine pretty satisfying for Indiana.
05:36So we've got ourselves a nice little rivalry for the Eastern Conference Finals.
05:40If anyone can knock off the Bulls, it's the Pacers.
05:43Uh, but tonight, where is the Pacers' starting point guard who so bothered Jordan in that
05:49regular season win?
05:51Mark Jackson, who led the league in assists last year and was third this year, who the
05:56Pacers needed so badly they trade these backsies for him despite how humiliating that is, is
06:02on the bench in a crucial moment of a crucial game.
06:06Why?
06:06Well, turns out coaches with five rings are good coaches.
06:12Phil Jackson was like, yeah, Reggie Miller's good.
06:15Rick Smith's first year as an all-star, great.
06:18Uh, shutting down Mark Jackson is the key.
06:22And Phil Jackson knew exactly how to do that.
06:25He put the longer, taller, heavier, stronger Scotty Pippen on Mark Jackson, who doesn't
06:30have the usual point guard quickness that could combat Pippen's defense.
06:34M. Jackson was completely shut down, as was the Pacers' offense.
06:39Indiana couldn't run their set plays.
06:41Rick Smith's wasn't getting enough shots or making enough shots.
06:45And Game 1 and 2 were lost on turnovers, many of them Jacksons.
06:51And so, here in Game 4, we see backup point guard Travis Best on the floor.
06:55And if you're wondering who might be getting the ball right now, Best is...
07:00Well, I don't want to say their best option, because I hate wordplay, but he's the guy
07:05that's having a good game right now.
07:07This is Best's third year in the league.
07:10He's been with the Pacers that whole time.
07:12His first two years...
07:14Well, Larry Brown was not the right coach for him.
07:17His words.
07:19In his first year, Best averaged less than 10 minutes a game, and Brown was leery of his
07:24decision-making.
07:26But that offseason, Brown pushed to trade away Mark Jackson and told everyone Best was
07:32ready to run the point for a title-contending team.
07:35Tricky spot for Travis Best.
07:38And as the season played out, Best proved to be a good shooter, but he had trouble running
07:43the fast break, which was attributed to his decision-making.
07:47So they traded back for Mark Jackson and said Best needed more time learning from the veteran.
07:52Travis was shoved into a reserve shooting guard position for the rest of the season.
07:58I know none of that explains why he's in the game and should possibly get the last shot
08:02tonight.
08:03Stick with me.
08:05Larry Bird saw something different in Best than the other Larry B.
08:09Bird actually liked Best's decisions.
08:12Bird saw a point guard who, yeah, didn't work for Brown's offense.
08:16But he can break down defenses and create off the dribble.
08:19And Bird made that a new facet of the team's offense this season.
08:24In this series, Best bailed out the Pacers.
08:28In their Game 3 win, he had 11 points and played the whole fourth quarter.
08:32He's too quick for Pippen to guard, which forced Phil Jackson to play Steve Kerr against him.
08:37And Kerr couldn't get the job done.
08:39Help defense stepped in, and the third-year point guard found the open man.
08:43Tonight, he's again played the whole fourth quarter, scoring eight points in the final
08:47period thus far, including two clutch three-pointers, the latter of which put the Pacers up 91-89
08:54with two and a half minutes to go.
08:57Indiana didn't manage to hang on to that lead, though.
09:00Down one with 21 seconds left, Dennis Rodman leans into a screen, and that's Pacers' ball.
09:06This could have been a big deal if the Pacers had been able to capitalize on it.
09:13But they just wasted time, lost the ball, and had to foul Scottie Pippen with four seconds left.
09:18Then everyone got a little shovey and a little angry, which, again, could have really been a big deal.
09:25A technical foul or an ejection with four seconds left and Chicago up one could have decided the game.
09:31But nobody was teed up.
09:33Isaiah Thomas in the booth explained,
09:35Players will decide the game, not the officials, and that's the way it should be.
09:40With a chance to extend their lead to three, Pippen missed both foul shots.
09:46Okay, that could end up being a big deal.
09:48Because here we are, Pacers have a chance for a winning shot.
09:52Though we've talked about Travis Best, there is another strong option to receive the ball right now.
09:58Pacers' famed sharpshooter, Reggie Miller.
10:01The guy who hit eight points in nine seconds against the Knicks in the 95 playoffs.
10:05The guy who is the face of the franchise.
10:08The guy who is the face of the Bulls-Pacers rivalry.
10:11On the Pacers side, of course.
10:13Look how mad he made Michael Jordan in a 1993 regular season game.
10:18If you only knew Jordan from this video, you'd think he was, like, constantly fighting.
10:23Speaking of this year's meaningful regular season game where the Pacers got Jordan to lose his cool,
10:28just a week before that, Jordan talked a lot of shit about Miller.
10:33Belittling him by calling him a woman a couple of times.
10:36Side note, should we cancel Michael Jordan?
10:39And essentially calling him a dirty player.
10:41Before the Eastern Conference Finals, Phil Jackson echoed MJ's sentiment that Miller was dirty.
10:46And Pippen didn't go quite that far, but did say Miller has a reputation as a guy who shoves coming off picks.
10:54But, I mean, come on, is that such a big deal?
10:57What's the worst that could do?
10:59Anyway, might be nice to give the ball to Miller for vengeance and drama, and also because he's a good shot.
11:06Might not be nice to give the ball to Miller because he actually hasn't been so great early in this series.
11:13He certainly hasn't been a counterpoint to Michael Jordan.
11:18In Game 2, he went 4 of 13, while MJ had 41 points.
11:25He certainly hasn't been the 8 points and 9 seconds Reggie Miller.
11:30Through Game 2, there were no shooting streaks.
11:33He certainly hasn't been healthy.
11:35He sprained his ankle in Game 3, which is a misdirect.
11:39Miller had a great Game 3, scoring 28 points, 13 of which came in the 4th, on that sprained ankle, to pull away from the Bulls, win by 2, and stave off, falling behind 3-0 in this series.
11:52Give this man the ball.
11:54He has a history of playing well when injured.
11:56Two years ago, Game 5, opening round series against Atlanta, Miller played with a barely-heeled, fractured eye socket to score 29 points.
12:06It was overall a losing effort that time, but that's not the main takeaway here.
12:12So, okay, here we go.
12:14It's definitely going to Miller for the previously stated reasons, right?
12:18Ignore his lack of production in the 3rd.
12:21And the 4th.
12:23Eh, maybe too much is riding on this to trust that ankle.
12:26Well, the next 2.9 seconds determine if this series is a battle, tied at 2-2, or over, with the Bulls up three games to one.
12:37In other words, have the Pacers re-entered the postseason scene as the team that can take down a dynasty?
12:44Or are the Bulls just too good, proving you can poke the beast, but he'll still eat you alive?
12:52Let's find out.
12:53Welcome to a moment in history.
12:55Harper's on Miller.
12:57McKee gets it in the middle for the win!
12:59It's the end!
13:01Four tenths of a second!
13:05Reggie Miller, now watch him, he's going to come off one screen!
13:09Gives Michael a bump!
13:10And he lets it go!
13:12What a killer shot by Reggie Miller!
13:15And let's just check, because this is Michael Jordan we're talking about.
13:20Kukoc to Michael at the buzzer!
13:22It spins out!
13:27It spins out!