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Closer Look Mad scramble goes the right way for Croshere, Pacers
Posted: Monday June 12, 2000 12:09 PM
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com INDIANAPOLIS -- The biggest basket of the NBA Finals for the Indiana Pacers was not even close to being planned. Larry Bird didn't call it. Mark Jackson didn't get the ball to the right person. It wasn't even a desperation fling that somehow, luckily went in. It was a simple effort play, the kind that often wins games. And, the Pacers hope, the kind that will turn this series around. "I think it just comes down to, when it's the end of the game, if you get a chance to get your hands on the ball, you gotta do it," said Indiana's Austin Croshere, the man who came through Sunday night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The Pacers, down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 3, had led the Los Angeles Lakers for the entire game and had a comfortable 13-point lead with 7:30 left. But the Lakers, even without injured star Kobe Bryant, simply would not roll over. L.A. went on an 8-0 run to cut Indy's lead to five points, at 86-81. With 3:03 left, the Lakers' Ron Harper drove down the right side of the lane and scooped in a layup to cut the lead to four. That's when Croshere, an emerging star who led the Indy bench with some spectacular play in the first two games, stepped in. On the next trip down the floor, Croshere found himself with the ball on the left baseline with the shot clock ticking perilously close to zero. He drove into the lane, where L.A.'s Robert Horry bumped him and dislodged the ball. No whistle. The Lakers' Rick Fox came over to help in the scramble for the ball. Horry went to the floor. Croshere started for the floor. It was one big mess-in-an-instant that was over in maybe three or four seconds. "I got bounced a little bit; I tried to throw it out, and it got deflected. It came back to me," said Croshere. "I just really wanted to get my hands on the ball. By the time I regained my balance, I was open for a shot." He was not only open, he wasn't even challenged. Horry and Fox were still scrambling, leaving Croshere to put in a little layup on the left side of the rim. The Indy lead jumped back to six, and the Pacers went on to win 100-91. "It's about fighting for every inch you can," said Indy's Travis Best, who contributed 14 points off the bench. "We fought hard to get where we're at. We're not about to quit now." Croshere, who came into Game 3 averaging 20 points off the bench in the two Finals games, had 12 points Sunday on 4-for-6 shooting. He's now made 16 of the 28 shots he's attempted in the three games. None was bigger than the scramble bucket he made Sunday. "I really wasn't looking to score," he said. "But at the time, they were off me when I caught the ball, and I was close enough to the basket to just put up a little floater. "I don't think they were expecting me to get the ball. It's just making the most of an opportunity." It's the kind of play that may make a series of this NBA Finals yet.
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