Monday, May 20, 2013

Sunday Globe Special: Trip Down Memory Lane

Happened to pick it up after my friend left it lying around:

"On June 1, 1994, the legend of Reggie Miller was born on Broadway when he scored 25 fourth-quarter points, including five 3-pointers, one deeper than the last, to send the Indiana Pacers home with a chance to close out the Eastern Conference finals....

But in Game 6, playing on a knee that had been surgically repaired two months earlier, New York Knick guard John Starks poured in 26 points. He converted 5 of 6 from behind the 3-point line in a 98-91 victory. Patrick Ewing’s put-back of a missed Starks driving layup clinched Game 7 in New York. But in Coach Pat Riley’s heart, Starks endeared himself by getting the Knicks home in the first place, and that best explained why Riley would not pull the plug on Starks even as he shot 2 for 18 in a crushing Game 7 defeat at Houston in the finals.

In 1995, the Pacers held a 3-1 series lead in the second round but the Knicks won a close game at home and returned to Market Square, where by then they were Indiana’s most despised opponent. Some fans around the visitors’ bench were profane and, in the opinion of some Knicks, borderline racist....

On May 19, 1995, Ewing’s 25 points and 15 rebounds led the Knicks to a 92-82 Game 6 victory. But back in New York, his endgame finger-roll rimmed out, Miller kissed the Garden floor and the Riley era came to a close.

Starks included the consecutive Game 6 victories in Indianapolis among the highlights of his career....

--more--"