In the final 15.7 seconds of a night that turned from a playoff basketball game into an emotional tribute, time stopped for Reggie Miller.
As he walked off the court at Conseco Fieldhouse for his honorary substitution, the Indiana fans roared in a standing ovation, their cheers holding him from retirement. When Miller had hugged his teammates and coaches, Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown called a timeout so that Miller, the 39-year-old guard from California, could savor this moment -- his last of 18 seasons.
The Pistons were seconds away from closing out the Eastern Conference semifinals with an 88-79 victory when Miller put one final exclamation mark to his remarkable career: In retiring, he united the two teams in a gesture that tried to heal an NBA season that was marred by a brawl in November on the Pistons' home court that involved players from both teams and fans.
PHOTO: AP
His protege from the Pistons, Richard Hamilton, and the rest of the Detroit team hugged Miller, six months to the date of the fight.
Miller stepped to the bench just then, waving one final time to history. He had missed two 3-point attempts in the final 30.9 seconds and, despite his vintage 27-point performance, Indiana's season and his career were both over.
The victory allowed the defending champion Pistons to clinch this Eastern Conference semifinal series, four games to two, and move on to play Miami in the conference final beginning Monday. Miller moves on to retirement with no regrets.
"I've had better seasons and a little bit more joy, but personally, this was the most rewarding for me," Miller said, long after he had gone to each of his teammates and thanked them, one-on-one, in the locker room. "After what happened, no one really expected us to be here.
"It was an unbelievable ride," Miller said of the wave of fan support. "We celebrated together, and tonight we cried together."
Miller will retire without having won a championship, a point he made somberly, but with no lasting regrets. He found his shooting rhythm, going 11 for 16 Thursday night after shooting 38 percent in the series and struggling to score in double figures the last two games. As he hit four 3-pointers, curled off screens and knocked down jumpers, Miller almost carried his team to a Game 7.
"I was completely convinced he was going to find a way to extend his career," Brown said. "He played great; he played like he was 22 years old."
He was the best player on the floor for Indiana, and asked to explain to those who wondered why he would not play another year, he said, "I will tell them to look at Games 4 and 5."
Would he even consider a return?
"No, absolutely, positively 100 percent, this is it," he said.
Even his opponents were swept away with the power of his final performance and their own mixed emotions. "It was killing me inside that he was making shots," said Hamilton, who led all scorers with 28 points.
In the on-court embrace, Hamilton said he told Miller: "I told him, thanks, thanks for everything he had done. Everybody in the NBA should be thanking him because he plays the game the way it's supposed to be played.
"One thing he told me, yo, carry the torch. It's kind of crazy at his age, he was still was able to put up a performance like he did tonight; that just tells you how good he is."
Chanucey Billups, the Pistons' point guard, was overwhelmed with his own emotions. "Reggie was unbelievable; he didn't want it to end," he said. "If it wasn't for me playing the game, I didn't want his career to end either."
But in the end, the Pistons had more weapons than Miller's team. Although Jermaine O'Neal also awoke in Game 6, scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, it was too late.
The Pistons overcame a six-point deficit early in the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run and never let up.
Rasheed Wallace hit a 3-pointer with 1:42 to play to give the Pistons a six-point lead, but Miller answered immediately with his own 3-pointer 11 seconds later, as the Pacers pulled within three points, 82-79. That was all Miller would do.
Hamilton hit a jumper off a screen with 53.1 seconds left to give the Pistons an 84-79 lead that would hold in the end.
But it was watching Miller play his last game that gave the players a chance to put the lasting impression on their rivalry.
"How about that? We played three games since the fight, six games in the playoffs, and guys were hugging each other," Brown said. "That was the thing that, to me, this whole series. I just thought it showed that through all the junk that happened, kids could just play basketball."
Miller, more than anyone, did that.
When the Pacers' best three players were suspended for their roles in the brawl, Miller took on a greater leadership role.
"That's what this season has been all about, finding a way to win," Miller said. "I didn't get the ultimate prize, but I tried."
Spurs 98, SuperSonics 96
Our guest today is Spalding.
He's an official NBA basketball. The one that sailed out of bounds just before halftime of last night's Sonics-Spurs playoff game.
Tell us about that, will you, Spalding?
"Well, it was kind of cool, actually. I landed a few feet a way from where Ichiro was sitting."
That's nice. But what happened on the play?
"Well, I was supposed to go to Luke Ridnour way out on the wing. Time was running down and the Sonics were angling for the final play of the half. They were trying to cut the San Antonio lead to three points, maybe two. Ray Allen was doubled, and he saw Luke was open. Luke sensed Ray's intention, moved a little left to take the pass, but Ray threw it to where Luke had been standing. Just a little miscommunication, I guess."
There seemed to be a lot of that going on last night.
"Yeah, I suppose. Ray misfired on passes four times in the first half alone. I told him to settle down, that he shouldn't try to do too much. I was spending way too much time in the stands."
Wait a minute. You talk to the players?
"Not all of them. I never said a word to Tim Duncan."
Why's that?
"He was all over me. He's like a clueless guy on a first date. All hands."
Does he hurt you?
"Not really. But he keeps flinging me around in the low post, losing the handle so the refs will call a foul. When he does that, I feel so used."
Duncan seemed to be having a hard time last night even when he had open shots under the basket. What's up with that?
"Sometimes the ball rolls in mysterious ways."
Are you saying you favored the Sonics?
"Let's just say I felt Seattle needed some beneficial bounces. The officials certainly weren't giving them any breaks. Did you see that tacky call on Nick Collison?"
Which one? Never mind. How did the rest of the game look from your perspective?
"It was a privilege to take part. That fourth quarter, I felt like cousins in the pingpong industry. Sorry, table tennis. Back and forth. Back and forth. I was exhausted. Sensational game."
Any special moments?
"I love it when Ray Allen is hitting his 3s. He had three in the second half; two of them were textbook. So smooth, beautiful arc, soft landing. It's like an amusement-park ride for basketballs. Sometimes I even lose track of where I am."
You said one of Allen's treys wasn't perfect.
"Well, it just hit the net kind of heavy. Gave me a little whiplash."
How about that fall-away jumper Ridnour hit to tie the game at 84?
"Sweet. He was a little off-balance. But he put me on a beautiful path. I knew I was good when I left his hand."
When Duncan missed a free throw that would have put the Spurs up by three, did you, uh, give the roll a little extra English?
"Nope. He blew that one on his own."
But in the last two minutes, when the Sonics could have used some help, Robert Horry hit a huge 3-pointer, and then Duncan fumbled his way through the lane and scored an excuse-me basket. Couldn't you have, well, bounced the Sonics' way?
"Horry's shot was perfect. Nothing I could do. Once we're in the air, we can't steer. On Duncan's play, I thought he walked. I was waiting for the whistle and wasn't really paying attention. When the basket was called good I was the most surprised object in the arena."
How about when Manu Ginobili missed the first of two free throws with just under a minute to go. What did you think?
"Ouch. He really clanged that one. Actually surprised me a bit. Ginobili usually has a nice touch."
And then Antonio Daniels did likewise at the other end.
"Yeah. Another clanger. I'm going to be black and blue tomorrow."
Your assessment of the game?
"It could be on ESPN Classic next week. I mean, 96-96 with 14 seconds left, the season on the line for the Sonics. You couldn't ask for anything more exhilarating. I was so excited at the end I might have been guilty of illegal circumference."
What happened on San Antonio's last basket?
"I knew I'd be going to Duncan down low. He made a great catch of a nice pass and kissed me off the glass ever so softly. I hardly felt it. You've got to hand it to him. He came up big when it counted."
With a half-second left, did you know what Daniels was going to do with you on the in-bounds pass?
"I figured I was going to Allen unless he had a heart attack or was eaten by Squatch."
Describe the shot.
"I felt OK as I left his hand. Not great. But pretty good. I thought I had a chance because on those corner shots it's hard to get a fix on the basket because there's no backboard to use as a reference point. But at the apex I could see the trajectory wasn't true. I knew I was going to hit iron, so I closed my eyes and prayed."
About 17,000 other people did, too.
"I felt kinda bad. The Sonics played well. They could have won it if only, if only "
If only they had gotten a few more bounces?
"Yeah. Guess it's my fault, huh?"
Don't worry about it. It's easier to blame the refs.
David Stern and Billy Hunter were here Thursday to discuss the NBA's steroid policy with the House Committee on Government Reform. But after nearly two hours of testimony, the talk outside Room 2154 of the Rayburn Building turned to the league's stalled labor negotiations.
"I have downgraded from optimistic to hopeful," Stern, the NBA commissioner, told reporters. "And now, frankly, to perplexed and, ultimately, despairing."
The league announced Wednesday that no further talks were scheduled.
Stern said Thursday that he felt the sides had been close to a deal last month. In return for union concessions on issues of contract length, raises and the luxury tax, the NBA had agreed to pay players 51 percent of the league's gross revenues, up from 48 percent in the existing deal.
"We've agreed to pay the entire membership of the union a very healthy sum," Stern said. "Our owners are looking to distribute that sum somewhat differently so the players that deserve it, get it.
"We're going to pay that money. To whom it gets paid is of particular interest to the agents, and that's why they're against the shortening of contracts."
According to Russ Granik, NBA deputy commissioner, who was in Indianapolis on Thursday for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the union has "backed off on a half-dozen issues" that had previously been agreed upon.
The union, Granik said, backed off having five-year contracts, the size of raises in those contracts and the issue of a luxury tax placed on teams that exceed the salary cap.
"The age limit, they backed off in part, too," Granik said, indicating that he thought the two sides had agreed on a 19-year age limit, up from 18, but not 20, as the league had wanted.
Hunter, executive director of the players' union, had met in mid-April with agents for some elite players.
He defended the role of the agents, whom he referred to as "an appendage of the union," but said he felt the league had questioned his authority.
Hunter said one NBA owner, whom he did not identify, had contacted an agent to inquire about what the union wanted out of the next deal. And Stern, Hunter said, had joked in a private conversation that the owners did not know whether to negotiate with Hunter or with the agents.
"Seven years ago, there was all this rhetoric about who was running the show," Hunter said. "It's a tactic the commissioner and the league use, and when they pushed the button this time, it was appropriate to respond."
In comments to ESPN.com on Tuesday night, Hunter suggested that his being an African-American hurt his credibility in the eyes of the NBA Stern said race had never been an issue in his dealing with Hunter.
"Those kind of statements are below him," Stern said. "He's a great leader, someone I know, and honestly I have no idea what he's talking about."
Neither Stern nor Hunter would say when they would return to the negotiating table, but Hunter said he would be willing to restart talks immediately.
"I don't want to create any ultimatums," Granik said. "They know how to reach us. In the last 48 hours, I've had more than one conversation with people on behalf of the union. We just have to get ourselves back to where there is a sense of we both know how far we can go."
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
A man fell from the 6.4m-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during Wednesday night’s game between the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3, players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man, who had fallen onto the warning track. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart. The team issued a statement shortly
PAINFUL VICTORY: Ruud said that felt pain in his rib during the warmup and was put on painkillers so that he could finish the match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo With the help of painkillers, Casper Ruud overcame a rib ailment to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets and reach the Madrid Open final on Friday. Ruud is to face Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final to make his third final of the year. Ruud received treatment on his rib three games into the match and went on to win 6-4, 7-5 on the Caja Magica center court. The 15th-ranked Norwegian saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced against the 21st-ranked Argentine. Ruud said he felt something in his rib during the warmup, just before
RSS