Rose Leaves No Doubt This Time

If anyone doubted Jalen Rose’s all-around game before the NBA finals, they’re believers now.

Rose, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, continued to showcase his skills at the expense of Glen Rice and the Lakers by breaking out of one-game shooting slump with a team-high 32 points to help keep the Indiana Pacers’ championship dream alive with a 120-87 victory Friday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.

“He’s very good with the ball, can take quick dribbles and pull up [and take a shot],” Indiana Coach Larry Bird said about Rose, who missed 11 of 16 shots in the Pacers’ Game 4 overtime loss. “He keeps the defense off balance. When he’s hitting his shots, it’s almost impossible to stop him.”

For much of the regular season and over the first three rounds of the playoffs, Rose started games trying to get his teammates more involved in the offense than to look for his shot.

That wasn’t the case Friday as he torched Rice from the start. Normally not a three-point shooter, the 6-foot-8 Rose made three long-range baskets in the first quarter as he finished the opening period with 11 points on four of four shooting.

“I’m a hard guy to please out there,” Rose said. “I’m not going to rant and rave too much when things are going well, just like I’m not going to drop my head when we drop a couple of games. I try and be steady. I try and be persistent, I understand we have what it takes to beat L.A. but it means nothing talking about it. And since I felt like I’ve been doing nothing but talking about it, especially when they got up 3-1, I figured I was going to shut up and go out and play.”

Rice said he simply did not have an answer for Rose.

“You just have to continue to put a hand in his face and hope that he cools down,” Rice said. “Jalen shot the ball great today. Any time he gets rolling like that, they are going to continue to keep looking for him.”

An aggressive Rose helped open things up for teammate Reggie Miller, who also got off to a strong start. The two teamed up to give the Lakers fits in running to an 11-point lead after one quarter.

“It’s really great to see,” Indiana veteran Mark Jackson said about Rose and Miller’s early scoring. “From a point guard’s perspective, running a motion play, watching them from day one to now, it’s just a drastic change. They really play off one another so well right now.

“They do a great job of coming off picks and finding one another when they’re doubled and making plays. It’s great to watch and great to have weapons like that as a point guard.”

Rose stepped up his game even more in the second quarter as he made five of eight shots, including another three-point basket to help Indiana extend its lead to 19 at halftime.

“We anticipated that Jalen was going to respond, not quite like this, but going to respond,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “And he had some first half against us. We couldn’t find a way. He walked into some real good shots. . . . Our game plan was basically to contest Miller and Rose, and win the boards. We couldn’t accomplish either one of those tasks tonight.”

By halftime, Rose already had 22 points, three rebounds and three assists. A full game for most but not for Rose, who wanted to make sure he played up to his pregame talk.

“After the last game . . . I talked about us not allowing them to celebrate on our home floor. I was serious about that,” Rose said. “That would be a bad feeling to end our season on.”

In the second half, Rose turned his attention more to the defensive end. Knowing that the Lakers would have to get points from Kobe Bryant, Bird didn’t hesitate to put Rose on Bryant, who never got into an offensive flow as he made only four of 20 shots and finished with eight points.

Offensively, Rose didn’t look to score as much as he did in the first half but he played the entire second half and made sure the Pacers would return to Los Angeles for Monday’s Game 6.

“It was a great win,” Rose said. “Had they beaten us by 33 points, I’m pretty sure we would have been written off. So we’ll see what’s said about this one.”

One thing certain is that whatever is said must include Rose.