My Life and Times

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Reggie Miller came off a weak performance in Game 1 to score 28 points, including the last basket, with 37.1 seconds left.

SERIES TIED, 1-1
Barrage by Miller Silences Boston and Its Vocal Fans
By HOWARD BECK

BOSTON, April 25 - In a bleak moment near the tail end of an often-bleak season, Reggie Miller looked up at a 7-point deficit and listened to the taunts rain down from 18,624 exuberant Celtics fans.

After the roars came the mocking "Reggie" chants, and for another brief snippet of time, the Indiana Pacers were the picture of despair. But that plot has been replayed many times this season, and the ending has usually been the same.

After every near-death experience, a rebirth.

But the Pacers never tire of this script, Miller never tires of silencing the braying masses, and the final taunt on Monday was his. He scored 28 points, including a 17-foot leaner down the stretch to secure an 82-79 victory over the Boston Celtics and tie their first-round playoff series at 1-1.

In retrospect, the "Reggie" chants and the yapping at Miller by the rookie guard Tony Allen look like ill-conceived ideas.

"When I played against him, I never said anything to Reggie," said Miller's teammate Stephen Jackson. "Because once you upset him or 'P' him off, he's going to wake up and get like five straight 3's. I was kind of glad that they started going at Reg, because that woke him up."

So the Pacers, the team that a brawl, suspensions and injuries could not tear asunder, the team that limped into the playoffs seeded sixth, now have home-court advantage and the next two games at home. Game 3 is Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Boston's 20-point rout in Game 1 left an impression on the Pacers and raised the possibility of a quick and final exit for Miller, who is retiring after the season. Indiana looked tired on Saturday night, with Jermaine O'Neal rubbing his injured right shoulder and the Celtics pushing the tempo to a furious pace.

This time, the game was played more to the Pacers' strengths - more halfcourt activity, more defense and fewer chances for the Celtics to run.

Paul Pierce rebounded from a quiet Game 1 to score 33 points, and Antoine Walker added 19. But Walker missed two point-blank shots in the final minutes, Pierce missed a free throw and, on the Celtics' final possession, Pierce missed a 3-pointer.

Boston shot just 38.8 percent from the field and its young bench, which had provided a spark two nights earlier, instead looked its age. Coach Doc Rivers, who has spent much time preaching ball movement, bemoaned too much isolation play.

"We went back a little bit to who we were in the past," Rivers said. "I thought each guy came out tonight and tried to do it themselves."

O'Neal is still struggling, but he put up 13 points and blocked 3 shots. Jackson provided the rest of the scoring, with 20 points.

But the night belonged to Miller, who at 39 is still in pursuit of his first championship ring. It became a classic Miller game, with 3-pointers and timely shots and one of those trademark flailing leg-kicks to draw a foul on Ricky Davis.

Rivers howled over the call, which came in front of the Celtics bench late in the third quarter.

"I'm amazed people haven't learned that's not a foul," Rivers said.

Boston led by 75-68 midway through the fourth quarter. Indiana chipped away at the lead, getting a driving dunk from Jackson, a layup and two free throws from O'Neal, a turnaround jumper from Anthony Johnson and finally a flying dunk along the baseline from Jackson to tie the score at 78-78.

Johnson's driving layup and Miller's final leaner put the game away, and left the Pacers chuckling over the imprudent actions of the Celtics and their fans.

"Sometimes, you just let sleeping dogs lie," Miller said, referring to Allen's trash talking.

For his part, Miller said he does not talk much anymore, but he did have the final word on Monday when he considered the crowd's taunts.

"Truthfully, I've heard a lot worse, in Philly and in New York," he said. "So this is child's play, what I was hearing tonight."

REBOUNDS

Four N.B.A. teams would train and play preseason games in Europe to start the 2006-7 season under a plan being considered by Commissioner David Stern. The effort would also involve the EuroLeague, Stern told reporters before Monday's playoff game between Boston and Indiana. ... Negotiations have been slow on a new labor deal, despite regular meetings between league officials and the players union the last two months. "We're trying to be optimistic," the deputy commissioner Russ Granik said. The N.B.A. still hopes to put a new age limit into the deal, but the primary sticking points are all economic, said Granik, who added, "What's separating us shouldn't be the cause for any calamity in our business." Stern wants to keep players from entering the league before age 20, a rule the union has resisted. A possible compromise could be a 19-year-old limit. "I think there's a chance that we'll get something where a player doesn't come right out of high school into the N.B.A.," Granik said.



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