Despite an Injury, He Was at His Best

Pacer Guard Travis Best played 10 minutes and made his two field-goal attempts despite a sore left shoulder.

The two-day break before Game 6 probably will serve him as well as it does the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant.

“I was pulling up a little bit on the jumper,” Best said. “I was able to get it to go down, but I couldn’t get that full extension.”

Asked if he might be better by Monday, he shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I’m taking it day by day.”

*

That’s six losses by an average of more than 15 points in potential clinching games this postseason for the Lakers. Some of the Pacers saw it early.

“Maybe they let up a little bit with that 3-1 lead [in the series],” Austin Croshere said. “Once we put it to them, they relaxed a little bit and the lead kept building.

“They had us down on the mat. They let us up tonight. If we can come back and play like this in Game 6, this series is far from over.”

Said Sam Perkins: “After the first quarter, we could smell some blood.”

*

Point guard Mark Jackson on Larry Bird’s decision to make this his final season as Pacer coach:

“I don’t think anybody can understand Larry. I respect the fact that he made a decision from day one and then stuck to it where a lot of people probably wouldn’t have. Especially after they get a taste of what has been accomplished this year. So I respect that. But, you know, he’s a different breed.”

*

Bird talked about his three seasons with the Pacers after taking over without any previous coaching experience.

“I have learned a lot in three years. I feel I’ve been very patient with these guys, and you have to be,” Bird said.

“Yeah, I get frustrated sometimes when I don’t get the effort that I want in practice and in the games, but you have to learn to deal with it and over the course of three years, I think I improved immensely. Coming in here, I didn’t know what to expect from these guys. They came off a year where they had a lot of injuries and didn’t win a lot of games. But somehow we played hard enough to get to the playoffs.”

The Pacers reached the Eastern Conference finals each of Bird’s three seasons, but this is his only team to reach the NBA finals, which still bothers him.

“I thought we had a good enough team our first year to defeat the Chicago Bulls, even though I knew they were a great basketball team like [this season’s] Lakers. We made some mistakes going down the stretch the last 6 1/2 minutes of [Game 7] and we lost.

“Then last year, I thought we were on a roll, we swept our two rounds and then in New York, strange things happened and we didn’t pull through. This year, we had a great opportunity to get to the finals and we got here.

“Over the three years, I think we’ve improved and have gotten better. It’s been . . . [a great] experience.”

*

Having a new coach will not be the only change for the Pacers next season. With six free agents, including Jalen Rose, Miller and Jackson, Indiana may have a totally different look for 2000-2001.

“Anything can happen with this team,” Jackson said. “I do know that we have proven that this team is capable of winning [an NBA title]. But whatever happens, we have a lot to be proud of.

“Togetherness, . . . the relationships that we have with one another . . . this is special. I have been in this league for 13 years and the way we stick together is something that I have never seen before. This is a special group of guys who have been in a lot of wars together. You just don’t throw that away.”

Bird said he expects Indiana to make a smooth transition.

“This has been my best year as far as watching the younger guys grow,” Bird said. “Watching Austin [Croshere] develop. Jalen coming on stronger this year the second half of the season. Watching Johnny [Jonathan] Bender and Jeff Foster improve, knowing that the future for this franchise is pretty stable with young guys.”

IN QUOTES

“I think they came out and they beat our pants off tonight. They earned it. They made their shots. When a team does that, you don’t have a chance.”

RON HARPER

Laker guard

*

“We know California will be ready to celebrate. We heard about the parade, but it won’t be tomorrow.”

JALEN ROSE

Indiana guard