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

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 and Four to lead Indiana to a pair of wins. "We were very motivated tonight because we embarrassed ourselves in the previous game " Dale Davis said. "We came ready to fight claw and give it our all." "After Game Five I felt they really quit on me " Pacers coach Larry Bird said. "Tonight they played as hard as they possibly could and I expect that on Sunday." There were 19 ties and 15 lead changes including six and three in the frantic final four minutes. The Pacers who squandered a 10-point second-quarter lead held the Bulls without a basket over the final 2 1/2 minutes. Chicago was called for an illegal defense and Miller's technical foul shot tied it with 1:27 left. "The illegal defense ... changed the direction of the game " said Jackson who was fined $10 000 for complaining about the officiating after Game Four. "We had to catch up and then they swallowed the whistles on the last call." The illegal defense was called against Pippen by Hue Hollins. In Game Five of the 1994 conference semifinals Hollins called a questionable foul against Pippen in the closing seconds and the Bulls went on to lose the game and the series. "There were two crucial calls that were uncalled for " Pippen said. "The illegal defense call was a backbreaker. It was one of those games where he finds a way to pick me out of the group somehow." Pippen scored 19 points but just one in the fourth quarter as he shot 6-of-18 from the field. Longley contributed 13 points and Dennis Rodman pulled down 12 rebounds helping Chicago to a 44-29 edge on the glass. Jordan made 12-of-23 shots and moved within four points of tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading playoff scorer at 5 762 points. Pippen moved past Julius Erving into 13th on the all-time list with 3 106 points. The Pacers shot 47 percent (33-of-70) from the field with just seven turnovers. They held the Bulls to 41 percent (31-of-76) and forced 13 turnovers. Smits pushed off the low blocks in Game Five made 11-of-12 shots. Rik Smits scored 25 points and Dale Davis added 19 for Indiana which reached Game Seven of the conference finals for the third time in NBA franchise history. Trying to become the first ABA team to reach the NBA Finals since the 1976 merger the Pacers lost to the New York Knicks in 1994 and the Orlando Magic in 1995. "We've got one game to see who goes to the Finals against the best team " Pacers guard Reggie Miller said. "The chips are stacked against us as they were when we played New York and Orlando. This time they are really stacked against us as we play in Chicago." Game Seven is Sunday night at Chicago. The two-time defending champion Bulls have not played a Game Seven since losing the 1994 conference semifinals at New York. Jordan was retired at the time and has not played a Game Seven since the conference semifinals in 1992 a win over New York. "We haven't played a Game Seven in six years " Jordan said. "We have to go out and play hard because there is no tomorrow. Come 6:30 on Sunday it's do or die. Someone's going to be happy and someone's going to be sad. We're going to win Game Seven."

Category: Sports

Updated: 10/24/2007 - 08:05:35

Tags: Chicago, Bulls, Indiana, Pacers, Michael, Jordan, Reggie, Miller, NBA, Basketball, Playoffs, 1998, Scottie, Pippen, Larry, Bird, Rodman

Votes: 101 votes.
Comments
BreMass85 best ecf ever or one of the best 06/22/2010 - 19:16:18
Exile101882 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. 06/04/2010 - 19:07:47
upabittoolate @mnkhan2020 Idiot. 05/16/2010 - 23:58:15
teddet87 i'm surprised jordan didn't cross over to the left for lay up or jump shot on the last play. 05/05/2010 - 03:10:47
zacharyalli756 #VIDEOPOSTERID# nice vid, reminds me of myself - lol. I'm five'eight and I can dunk. I used the real nba training plan that that even Kobe and Ray Allen both used. If you want more info about the program, check out - 50 inch vertical (dot) com Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers | 1998 Playoffs | ECF Game 6: Pacers prevail 04/28/2010 - 07:58:32
donaldwill708 kOrOne79 I am 5 8 and I dunk in my highschool team games. I m in my school's varsity team and my dunking impresses everybody (like the girls haha). It was honestly really simple, I just followed the unique workout over at (50 inch vertical [dot] com) - I m sure you can probably do it too Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers | 1998 Playoffs | ECF Game 6: Pacers prevail 04/06/2010 - 04:48:13
benjaminblair128 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 04/02/2010 - 23:49:02
sean2015 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. 03/29/2010 - 05:31:43
tommass97 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 03/29/2010 - 04:05:11
datruthhurts10177777 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 03/27/2010 - 00:50:22
datruthhurts10177777 this was the real 1998 finals 03/27/2010 - 00:43:26
showstoppa01 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 01/10/2010 - 03:01:16
tkcwu 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 12/01/2009 - 15:23:03
Intramorph 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. 10/18/2009 - 20:47:38
drewdeze 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 10/14/2009 - 13:23:06
Intramorph 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! 10/14/2009 - 07:20:44
lan79ful please nbc take the nba back fromabc 10/11/2009 - 14:44:38
Xavier1215 Larry Bird's expression=priceless 09/29/2009 - 03:22:13
rpleex500 I love it when Bob Costas says 'that was a true brick' at 3:08 09/21/2009 - 00:03:19
WHSSHHS2008 I remember watching Michael stumble on live TV as it happened. I was just shocked and couldn't believe it. 09/16/2009 - 22:45:18
mickyjfenwick smits was on fire!! 08/30/2009 - 06:28:12
diehardBULLSfan This was another heartbreaking loss. The Pacers had a really good team that year.They gave da Bulls a lot of problems in Indiana. 08/28/2009 - 20:03:44
choclatesuprman hes still the best ever 08/20/2009 - 06:39:21
JayT98 And also i'd like to point out how the refs are letting these guys play. And at a very intense level. Today the players can't build up any real intensity due to all the whistle blowing. The game is so watered down today. Its really boring comared to this era of basketball. 08/12/2009 - 03:31:36
JayT98 Jordan was tired. He had to dig deep to win this series. I actually thought the bulls were done. 08/12/2009 - 03:29:52
 
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