Pacers Put Time on Their Side : NBA Playoffs: Smits’ shot completes a remarkable 13.3 seconds, giving Indiana a 94-93 victory and a series tie.

One point three seconds?

Piece of cake.

There might have been better basketball games, but there have never been 13.3 seconds like Monday’s, when the Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers swapped the lead three times before Rik Smits made a 14-footer at the buzzer, giving Indiana a 94-93 victory and a 2-2 tie in the Eastern Conference finals.

An hour after the game, there were still crowds of happy fans on the streets and cars cruising downtown, blaring their horns.

“That was great,” the Pacers’ Reggie Miller said. “That was unbelievable. The world was watching that.”

Well, maybe much of the basketball world, anyway, but it was a bona fide thriller, a classic, one of the most memorable NBA playoff games, whatever. History will decide, but here was how those final seconds went.

--With 13.3 seconds left, with Shaquille O’Neal and Horace Grant having fouled out, Brian Shaw made a three-point shot, putting Orlando up, 90-89.

--With 5.2 seconds left, Miller made a three-point shot, putting Indiana up, 92-90.

--With 1.3 seconds left, Penny Hardaway made a three-point shot, putting Orlando up, 93-92.

--With 1.3 seconds left, the Pacers inbounded the ball to Smits, who faked ancient Tree Rollins into the air, stepped under and made his game-winner with no time on the clock.

Replays showed the ball was away in time, although they couldn’t vouch for whether the timekeeper started the clock when he should have. Magic players, of course, recognized foul play when they were a victim of it.

“I would give Rik Smits the ball again with 1.3 seconds left,” Grant said, “and see how long that took him in any other building. It was truly amazing.”

Said Magic Coach Brian Hill: “Maybe it was 1.39.”

Maybe it was 1.39999, but it was a Magic mistake too. The 7-foot Rollins was supposed to stay on his feet, raise his arms and make Smits shoot over him.

Rollins, 38, is a player-coach, but once a shot-blocker, always a shot-blocker. Like a dog chasing cars, Tree may not get many but he still goes after them, and when Smits faked, Rollins soared, opening the door to the hoop.

“Unfortunately, we left our feet on the play,” Hill said. “If we body up, he doesn’t have a chance to make that play.”

It was just a bad day to be a Magician.

Incensed that O’Neal had been held to 30 minutes by foul trouble in Game 3, they whined for two days, setting up the next refereeing crew--only to have Mike Mathis, king of the superstar-bashers, show up.

Monday, Shaq wound up fouling out . . . in 30 minutes.

Nevertheless, the game see-sawed. Going into the closing seconds, the Pacers led, 89-87,but things were about to change fast.

With 13.3 seconds left, Shaw made his three-point shot and the Magic led, 90-89.

The play had Hardaway working off a pick-and-roll, but the Pacers stymied it. Hardaway backed off and threw the ball to Shaw, the fifth option who had made one shot all game.

“It just went down,” Shaw said, “but it’s no big deal now.”

Thirteen point three? Against a team with Reggie Miller? A lifetime.

Sure enough, with 5.2 seconds left, Miller took the pass behind the arc, turned around, kicked back and let fly and the Pacers led, 92-90.

“Actually, we were trying to get a triangle [low-post play] for Rik,” Miller said. “I said [the heck with] it.”

Five point two? Getting tense, but there’s still time.

Hardaway was supposed to go to the basket, but he had his own ideas too.

“In my head, I wanted to go for the win,” he said, “just go for the knockout punch.”

The Pacers had 6-10 Derrick McKey on the 6-7 Hardaway, but Penny came off a screen and 6-3 Haywoode Workman had to switch on him. Hardaway dribbled twice to his left, then leaped over the shorter defender and without even squaring his shoulders, made the three-point shot that put the Magic up, 93-92, with 1.3 left.

One point three?

That isn’t very much time at all.

Pacer Coach Larry Brown said that venerable Vern Fleming told Smits to ball-fake Rollins. Smits said he didn’t remember Fleming saying anything, but he knew that much.

“One point three, enough time to at least get a little fake in there and see what he [Rollins] would do,” Smits said. “When I saw him go a little bit, I just stepped through and let it go.”

Bingo!

O’Neal cleared out fast, answering no questions and growling, “No autographs, get out of the way!” at a kid, who he must have presumed was from Indiana.

It was a great day to be a Pacer, a fine day to be a basketball fan, but no day to be Shaq.