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Bulls @ Pacers, 1998 Playoffs G6: Pacers prevail

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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."

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