Rose Steps Forward When It Matters

One way or another, Jalen Rose was going to get the ball.

Rose scored 26 points, getting three consecutive three-point baskets midway through the fourth quarter, a clinching free throw with 17 seconds left and a rebound at the buzzer as the Indiana Pacers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 88-85, in Game 1 of their best-of-five Eastern Conference series Sunday.

“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Rose said.

He also was trying to make up for lost time spent on the bench with foul trouble.

“It’s a challenge when you come into a game and try to play offense and defense,” said Rose, who finished with five fouls. “In the fourth quarter, the guys did a good job getting me open and I knocked down a few shots we needed.”

Game 2 will be at Conseco Fieldhouse on Thursday night.

Rose had 12 points in the first quarter but went cold until his late run. The Bucks, meanwhile, survived their own poor shooting, came back from a 13-point deficit and tied the game, 62-62, after three quarters on six consecutive points by Sam Cassell.

Two baskets by Tim Thomas--one a three-point basket--at the start of the fourth quarter gave Milwaukee its biggest lead at 67-62 before Rose took over.

“The main thing was we kept our composure,” Rose said. “When they took the lead, we didn’t get discouraged.”

The Bucks’ final edge was 69-68 before Rose’s first three-point basket with 6:28 to go, and Indiana went up 79-71 after two more three-point baskets by Rose. Ray Allen, who had 22 of his 26 points in the second half, pulled the Bucks within 85-84 with a minute left. Travis Best then scored for the Pacers and Cassell made one of two free throws with 43 seconds left.

Reggie Miller, who had 21 points for the Pacers, then missed a shot, but the ball went out of bounds to Indiana with 18 seconds left. Rose immediately was fouled on the inbounds pass and made one of two free throws.

Milwaukee got off two more shots, but Thomas missed a three-point shot and Rose grabbed the ball at the buzzer.

“We really didn’t have a set play,” Thomas said. “I had a good shot at it, but I was a little too anxious.”

Cassell finished with 18 points. Glenn Robinson had 11 points making only four of 17 shots. Allen, who played only six minutes in the Bucks’ final regular-season game because of a knee sprain, played 34 minutes against the Pacers, making nine of 22 shots.

Indiana’s Dale Davis had 12 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots.