Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers | 1998 Playoffs | ECF Game 3: Reggie saves the day

A limping Reggie Miller scored 13 of his 28 points in the final 4 1/2 minutes and the Indiana Pacers survived a furious late rally by the Chicago Bulls and climbed back into the Eastern Conference finals with a 107-105 victory in Game Three. “I stepped on Mike’s foot in the middle of the third quarter,” Miller said. Clearly hobbled, Miller nevertheless made three three-pointers, a 20-footer that beat the shot clock and the clinching free throws in the final 4:11. He was the only Pacer to score from the field in the last 6 1/2 minutes. “It loosened up as the game went on,” Miller said. “I knew I couldn’t drive, so I basically just played off their mistakes.” Miller made 9-of-15 shots, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Indiana’s bench held a 43-25 scoring advantage, including 20-6 over the final 13-plus minutes. “He said he could go,” Pacers coach Larry Bird said. “He put everything on the line and stepped up and hit the big shots.” Michael Jordan scored 30 points and Scottie Pippen added 23 for the Bulls, who suffered their first road loss of the postseason and had a five-game winning streak snapped. Chicago trimmed an eight-point deficit to 103-102 in just over a minute, but Rose and Davis each made a pair of clutch free throws before Miller sealed it. “He was hurt and I don’t know why we didn’t go at him,” Bulls guard Ron Harper said. “We had a chance in this game and we know we let a golden opportunity slip away.”
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Travis Best outdueled Michael Jordan in the final minute with a running bank shot and two free throws as the Indiana Pacers forced a seventh game in the Eastern Conference finals with a 92-89 victory over the Chicago Bulls. “I felt big pressure on those two free throws but I was very confident,” Best said. “It was a big game for us and we took the challenge. We were better focused.” The 5-11 Best, a reserve whose quickness has bothered Chicago throughout the series, snapped an 87-87 tie when he dribbled past Kerr and lofted a tough runner high off the glass with 33 seconds left. “Best made big plays down the stretch,” Bird said. “Our guys stepped up and made big plays. Best was key in this series. His defense was excellent.” “He made two big shots and two big free throws,” Jordan said. “You have to give him credit.” Jordan, who missed a pair of shots in the final minute, tried to drive the lane but slipped and lost the ball. Derrick McKey was fouled with four-tenths of a second to go and made the first before intentionally missing the second, killing the clock. “I actually thought I was tripped,” Jordan said. “I thought I had a clear path to the basket. I started to make my move to the basket and then I started falling.” The Pacers rebounded from a 19-point beating in Game Five and remained unbeaten at home (8-0) in the postseason without a major contribution from Miller, who scored just eight points on 3-of-13 shooting. Miller made clutch shots at the end of Games Three

Comments

  1. pacernut31 says:

    reggie is awesome!!!

  2. dweebieMC says:

    I’m glad pippen made the hall yesterday… now it’s reggie’s turn…

  3. dweebieMC says:

    @Bahia82 who cares? I don’t like total show-boating, but the league needs a COMBINATION of personalities. so if some players like to talk some shit that’s fine with me – players should be themselves and we get a mix of all sorts of styles. it makes it more fun – you have your showboats, trash talkers, intense assassins, and silent killers. we need ALL OF THE ABOVE to make the league fun!

  4. outspoken34 says:

    Even though the Bulls obviously took care of business, I just wished they would’ve taken one at Market Square (this game in particular). The home team won every game in this series.

  5. Jackie4785 says:

    wooo yo kOrOne79 this vid is so first-rate yo if you’re interested in learning to dunk have a look at this – 50 inch vertical (dot) com

    check it asap kOrOne79
    Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers | 1998 Playoffs | ECF Game 3: Reggie saves the day leujle zhkygaeqrp #kOrOne79

  6. SuperTwins2010 says:

    @THOUSANDAlRE your right

  7. Harvey834 says:

    So my boy kOrOne79 finally told me how he started dunking, he s not even as tall as me but leaps over a foot higher! Apparently he followed the training plan over at “50inch vertical [dot] com” and gained over 16 inches in his vertical leap!
    Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers | 1998 Playoffs | ECF Game 3: Reggie saves the day jrijeurdghpsi jsfxmaxhuifdmt #kOrOne79

  8. SuperTwins2010 says:

    @Bahia82 but scottie pippen’s dunk wasn’t anywhere close to reggie miller’s game winning 3 in game 4 so your point

  9. THOUSANDAlRE says:

    @SuperTwins2010 Tracy McGrady?? The only top 5 he’s in is the top 5 injury-proned or better yet the top 5 playoffs chokers.

  10. vecman86 says:

    Doug Collins says cunt at 9:54

  11. Bahia82 says:

    boy do I miss this NBA! Scottie Pippen does an Amazing Dunk, and did you notice the reaction afterwards? no Jumping no strutting, no poking out his chest, lol

  12. DTDB1225 says:

    Bob Costas is a bad basketball play-by-play guy.

  13. mattkhanna says:

    1994-2002 nba peak

  14. fatriani says:

    we had chris muIIen AND Reggie miIIer, and we stiII couIdnt defeat Jordan-Pippen

  15. MacRoyale33 says:

    This was the best series of play-off basketball.

  16. MrHoopsFanatic says:

    scottie, that was down right mean 2:30

  17. absolutelyradiant says:

    The good ole days.

  18. SuperTwins2010 says:

    reggie miller , michael jordan , kobe bryant , clyde drexler and tracy mcgrady are the top 5 shooting guards of all time

  19. cdwok says:

    you keep posting this to evryones video know one cares. Stop trying to selll products that are useless. If you actually gained 12 inches on your vertical leap post it up on youtube!!!

  20. lancesmith39 says:

    eh kOrOne79, if you {want|would like|wish|really want} to improve in basketball, you ought to start {following|sticking with} #RANDSETa {real|actual|genuine|authentic|serious|proper|legit} # training prog. I used widely known nba training plan at 50 inch vertical (dot) com. I haven t even told this to my basketball teammates yet heh

    Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers | 1998 Playoffs | ECF Game 3: Reggie saves the day

  21. rickdown51 says:

    kOrOne79, is 5 7, American and can dunk. Wtf you mean white guys can t jump? It s (just|simply|all)# about the training people do to get their jump to be strong enough to dunk. For me, I just used the training workout over at 50 inch vertical (dot) com

  22. SuperTwins2010 says:

    reggie miller vs michael jordan is a classic

  23. lpandjayz1 says:

    that bulls team was just all over good….. they had kerr and kukoc off the bench…. and jordan and pippen to score and maybe 1 of the best rebounders ever dennis rodman….. simply the best

  24. freddean56 says:

    Yo kOrOne79, if you {want|would like|wish|really want} to improve in basketball, you must start {following|sticking with} #RANDSETa {real|actual|genuine|authentic|serious|proper|legit} # training plan. I used widely known nba workout course over at | 50 inch vertical [dot] com |. I didn t even tell this to my high school teammates yet hehe

    Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers | 1998 Playoffs | ECF Game 3: Reggie saves the day

  25. nascarfan9000 says:

    Me too

  26. deimiankm8 says:

    the ends kills meeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

  27. YodaWannabEE says:

    at 7:30 phil jackson says “fucking (something)”

  28. kingcam0775 says:

    @sean2015

    Also, Karl Malone choked in game 6…

  29. kingcam0775 says:

    @JayT98

    If you like this you should watch some ball in the 80′s.

  30. BreMass85 says:

    best ecf ever or one of the best

  31. Exile101882 says:

    Coming from one the Bulls/MJ biggest fans ever, I’m glad that was a no call. Today, Kobe fans would bitch all over to get that call, and Kobe always does. That’s why these players and teams in this era were probably the greatest of all-time, so far, because the evolution of the game then plus they weren’t swaddled like infants.

  32. upabittoolate says:

    @mnkhan2020 Idiot.

  33. teddet87 says:

    i’m surprised jordan didn’t cross over to the left for lay up or jump shot on the last play.

  34. benjaminblair128 says:

    kOrOne79, every so often I force myself to bear in mind exactly what it was like before I could possibly dunk the ball. As soon as I used the exercise program at | 50 inch vertical [dot] com | – my game has been increasing quickly and I’m even a starter now! #key1#

    Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers | 1998 Playoffs | ECF Game 6: Pacers prevail

  35. sean2015 says:

    The Pacers and the Bulls went to 7 games that year. In the Western Conference Finals, the Jazz swept the Lakers, so Utah had a 10-day layoff while waiting to host the winner of Pacers-Bulls. The long layoff made Utah very rusty and they played lousy during the first 4 games of the ’98 Finals against Chicago.

  36. tommass97 says:

    Yo kOrOne79, if you {want|would like|wish|really want} to improve in basketball, you have got to start {following|sticking with} #RANDSETa {real|actual|genuine|authentic|serious|proper|legit} # training workout. I used widely known training program here 50 inch vertical (dot) com. I haven t even told this to my basketball teammates yet lol

    Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers | 1998 Playoffs | ECF Game 6: Pacers prevail

  37. datruthhurts10177777 says:

    yea and they did better than utah in this year against the bulls they almost won game 7 and diddnt have home court utah had home court and lost in 6 games which means pacer would have killed utah ! this was the real nba finals

  38. datruthhurts10177777 says:

    this was the real 1998 finals

  39. showstoppa01 says:

    94 95 and 98 PAcers were in Game 7 one game away from reaching the finals each yr and failed. 99 lost to knicks in game 6. but finally made it in 2000. Pacers could of been a dynasty

  40. tkcwu says:

    jordan actually need to thank kobe for crossing pip b4 throw the alley oop to shaq. otherwise pip would have got 7 rings. and all of a sudden pip is > mj

  41. Intramorph says:

    You’re comparing apples to oranges. First of all, no one said Pippen is as good, or better than Jordan. All I said is Pippen is a hall of fame caliber player with, or without Jordan, so whether MJ would have done a better job in that situation or not is irrelevant. Secondly, you’re talking about 2 totally different teams in different eras. MJ was unstoppable, but it certainly doesn’t hurt that he had a very solid team behind him. What Scottie had to deal with at that time was different.

  42. drewdeze says:

    you are 100% right, but if i am not mistaking, you can correct me on this if u really wanna try, when pippen played for the blazers, how many points did the blazers have the lakers down in the 4th quarter of that game 7, and if im not mistaking once again, the lakers did win that game after being blown the eff out. now you type this with a straight face and tell me that that would have happened with jordan as the 2 guard? jordan wouldnt allow that 2 happen and u know damn well im right

  43. Intramorph says:

    You’re right. We DID see what happened to Scottie when Jordan left. He averaged 22.0 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 5.6 APG, 2.9 STL (LED THE LEAGUE!), & 1.9 3-pnt. He shot 49% from the field, including a career-best 32% from the three-point line. He was named to the All-NBA First Team, won the All Star MVP and finished third in the regular season MVP voting. Most impressively, the Bulls finished the season with 55 wins, only two less than the year before!!

    Scottie is a hall of famer, with or without MJ!

  44. lan79ful says:

    please nbc take the nba back fromabc

  45. Xavier1215 says:

    Larry Bird’s expression=priceless

  46. rpleex500 says:

    I love it when Bob Costas says ‘that was a true brick’ at 3:08

  47. WHSSHHS2008 says:

    I remember watching Michael stumble on live TV as it happened. I was just shocked and couldn’t believe it.

  48. mickyjfenwick says:

    smits was on fire!!

  49. diehardBULLSfan says:

    This was another heartbreaking loss. The Pacers had a really good team that year.They gave da Bulls a lot of problems in Indiana.

  50. choclatesuprman says:

    hes still the best ever

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