Miller Falls a Quarter Short of Getting His Money’s Worth

The stage was set for Reggie Miller to put on his villain hat and carry the Indiana Pacers to an upset victory Friday night at Staples Center.

The Lakers, without Kobe Bryant, were having a difficult time putting Indiana away.

The Pacers found themselves down by only four points after three quarters.

But Miller discovered that a playoff game in Los Angeles isn’t the same as New York and maybe more importantly, the Lakers aren’t the Knicks.

After scoring 19 points over the first 36 minutes, Miller was shut down in the fourth quarter as he scored only two more points and finished with 21.

“I thought I had a couple of good looks,” Miller said about his fourth-quarter shooting. “But, I missed two or three wide-open layups and a wide-open three from the corner that I thought was big.”

Miller finished seven of 16 from the field and was six of six from the free-throw line. Not a bad night considering he made one of 16 and finished with only seven points in the Pacers’ loss in Game 1.

After his horrible shooting night to open the NBA finals, Miller came out in attack mode in Game 2.

Scoring six of the Pacers’ first eight points, Miller knocked down a 17-foot jump shot, then made two free throws and drove the lane for a layup.

“We knew that he was going to come out and be really aggressive tonight and I think that he scored [the Pacers]’ first six points in the game,” said Laker guard Brian Shaw, who often defended Miller.

But Miller’s aggression turned into a flaw when he picked up two quick fouls and was forced to leave with 5:43 remaining in the first quarter. When Miller reached the bench, he had already topped his Game 1 scoring total with eight points and the Pacers held a 14-11 lead.

“We got Reggie off to a good start,” Indiana Coach Larry Bird said. “Too bad he picked up a cheap foul there that sent him to the bench. I thought he was in the game, he was in the flow.”

Once Miller returned in the second quarter, he was not as aggressive as he was in the opening period. He played six minutes and made the only shot he attempted.

In the second half, the Pacers again turned to Miller and he responded with a strong third quarter, scoring nine points, including his first three-pointer of the finals.

“When we brought him back, I thought he did a good job picking up at halftime,” Bird said about Miller. “After that, he wasn’t into the fourth quarter.”

Miller didn’t particularly shoot well in the third quarter but he was not shy attacking the basket. He scored on two long-range jumpers and then finished a break with a dunk.

But after the fourth quarter began, the Lakers took the ball out of Miller’s hands and it almost cost them, as Austin Croshere and Jalen Rose combined for 22 points over the final 12 minutes.

Miller missed his two field-goal attempts in the quarter and if not for two free throws, he would have been shut out completely down the stretch.

“Like I said, we were expecting Reggie to be aggressive early and he came out and did that,” Shaw said. “But I think overall, we did a pretty decent job on him tonight but we have to do a better job on Austin Croshere, who really took it to us.”

Because of Croshere’s emergence as a go-to player over the first two games of the series, Indiana did not seem to care that Miller had only two shot attempts in the fourth.

“Because there were other guys like Austin and Jalen doing some of the work,” Indiana’s Sam Perkins said. “We spread the ball around, this is not a one-man team. Even though [Miller]’s been characterized as getting the shots at the end of games, we have other guys to go to.”

The Pacers might not be looking for Miller to carry them, but most NBA followers believe they do not stand a chance of getting back into the series unless Miller can be more consistent.

Something Miller knows as well as anyone.

“I picked it up some in the third but. . . . We had our shots tonight,” he said. “We had a golden opportunity that slipped through our fingers.”

And if it happens two more times, Miller can think about the shots he missed all summer.