- [NBA Caster] They gotta be very careful,
- [Narrator] It's June 14th, 2000.
We're at Conseco Field House for game four
of the 2000 NBA finals between
the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers.
With seconds remaining in overtime,
the Lakers are up two points
and can take a commanding three to one series lead
if they get a stop here.
Ahhh shit!
That's Reggie Miller, the absolute last person
the Lakers want to see with the ball behind
the three point line.
Before we witness what comes next,
it's important to remember the moments that got us here.
Some extremely clutch from unexpected characters
and others just flat out chaotic.
To do that, we need to rewind.
(calm music)
LA is in a position to snatch a crucial game on the road.
And if you take a look around the court,
they've somehow managed to hold
onto this league without their franchise star.
This is Shaquille O'Neil's team.
The Lakers signed Shaq to a massive contract
in the summer of '96 signaling a new era
for the organization.
Shaq's individual brilliance carried LA
but his teammates hardly pulled their weight
in the post-season and were described
by journalists as a hyped youth movement.
And after the Lakers got swept at home
in the 1999 semi-finals,
Shaq couldn't dodge criticism of his own.
Although, the following season presented
a fresh opportunity.
Besides moving into a shiny new arena,
the Lakers hired acclaimed head coach Phil Jackson.
Under Jackson's guidance,
Shaq elevated his already elite level play
and had arguably the greatest individual season
in NBA history as the Lakers ran through opponents
all the way to the NBA finals.
Because of Shaq's utter dominance,
the Lakers were their favorites
and thanks to the big fella putting up absurd numbers,
LA grabbed the first two games at home.
While Indy took game three,
they still couldn't contain Shaq.
Tonight in game four, Diesel couldn't get it going early,
hindered by foul trouble until the fourth quarter
when he got busy.
Even after picking up his fifth foul,
Shaq put on an offensive masterclass
and punked every defender the Pacers threw at him
including poor Sam Perkins who just turned 39.
Except, Shaq couldn't shoot free throws for
shit and nearly costed Lakers down the stretch
splitting some crucial shots at the line,
opening the door for old man Perkins to tie the game up
at 104 with 35 seconds to play after drilling this three.
Shaq's fourth quarter takeover kept the Lakers alive
but he mainly had to watch the squad
from the bench in overtime.
Up three with a little over two and a half minutes to play,
Shaq picked up his sixth and final foul
on a loose ball call that left him puzzled.
- [NBA Caster] That's a loose ball foul on Shaq.
That'll be number six.
What a big play.
That's it.
- [Narrator] But, even without their star,
LA managed to stay strong and hold the lead.
We just heard about the Lakers superstar center
who left the court but the Pacer's big man
is here still on the floor.
And while he's nowhere as thick,
the dude has special talents of his own.
The Pacers drafted center Rik Smits,
second overall in 1998 and over the years,
he became an Indy fan favorite.
Maybe the good working folks of Indiana identified
with Rick's shy demeanor of never show boating
or maybe it was his strong mullet.
Either way, it's interesting that
a lanky Dutch dude was beloved by Midwest Americans.
Anyways, the Dunking Dutchman also had
some extremely clutched postseason moments
that would make any fan base fond of him.
During game four of the 1995 Eastern Conference finals,
the Pacers inbounded the ball to Smits
down one with 1.3 seconds left to play.
Where Smits pulled off a nasty pump fake
before draining a game winner to tie the series
against the Orlando magic.
Dutch certainly isn't shy of big moments
and throughout Indiana's playoff runs, he earned the status
of the number two guy on some deeply talented Pacers teams.
The Dunking Dutchman showed out tonight
despite being a none factor in the first three games.
The Pacers came out hot with Smits leading the charge
finishing the first quarter perfect from the field
as Indy took a strong 10 point lead.
After a tame second quarter, Smits went back to work
in the third, but had to watch Shaq demolish his teammate
from the bench the entire fourth quarter.
Although, in overtime, Indy rode the Dutchman.
He scored the Pacers' first basket
and after Shaq fouled out,
the team kept feeding the Dutch boy in the paint
as he scored consecutive baskets.
They cut the Lakers lead to one with a minute
and a half to play.
Then later drained a pair of free throws
to cut the Lakers lead to one with 28 seconds remaining.
Smits did his thing as the second star
and is a huge reason the Pacers find themselves here
with a chance to tie or win it outright.
But yet, LA still has the lead.
Without Shaq, someone had to step up and hold it down.
For the Lakers, their co-star role belongs to this guy,
Kobe Bryant.
Bryant's shown he has the talent to be Shaq's wingman
but hasn't proven he has what it takes to thrive solo.
The Lakers swung a draft day trade
and selected Kobe Bryant 13th overall,
fresh outta high school in 1996.
In his rookie season, the youngin' had trouble
finding his footing and had no real significance.
Although when he did gain attention,
it wasn't necessarily for the right reason.
During an elimination game against
the Utah Jazz in the '97 semi-finals,
Bryant put up four air balls in five minutes,
including this shot that came nowhere near the rim
that would've tied the game late in overtime.
The air balls seemed to be the perfect humbling moment
for Bryant, 'cause over the next two years,
he constantly kept improving.
While Bryant mainly operated from the bench
in his second season, he became a regular starter
in the shortened '98-'99 campaign and truly began
to establish himself as the Lakers second star.
When the young buck got rolling,
he could pour on points with the best of them,
highlighted by a career high 38 point performance
against Orlando that journalists called Jordan esque.
When it came to the postseason though,
Bryant kept folding like a lawn chair.
The 20 year old had a miserable three game stretch
against the San Antonio Spurs in the '99 semi-finals
which culminated in a game four series sweeping loss
at home where fans hit him with boos from the jump.
Spurs forward, Mario Elie thought it was classless
booing a young guy still growing in the league
but LA media members were fed up using his age as an excuse.
The following season and a whole year older,
Kobe met his playoff criticisms head on.
Despite being favorites entering the 2000 post season,
things got a little dicey for LA.
Kobe pulled his weight, dropping multiple 30 pieces
in a first round series that took all five games
against the scrappy Sacramento Kings.
LA went on to smoke the Phoenix Suns in the semis
then needed an epic fourth quarter game seven comeback
where Kobe led the team in points
to edge out the Portland trailblazers
and punched their ticket to the finals.
Even though Kobe kept elevating his postseason play,
the Lake show still belongs to Shaq
and experts regard the youngin' simply as
a perfect compliment to Diesel.
Although in the finals,
Kobe's impact has become much more apparent
when the team faced a significant obstacle.
During the first quarter of game two,
Kobe suffered an ankle injury and didn't return to the game.
As much as journalists praised Kobe's offensive game,
he was a dog defensively and when Jackson decided
to sit him in game three, the Pacers office exploded
in their win making it a brand new series.
Headed into game four, Jackson was still uncertain
about playing his young star, but if you asked Kobe,
unless a trained killer kept him off the court,
there wasn't a single doubt in his mind he would play.
Although you could clearly tell the ankle
bothered him to start this game
as he finished an unproductive first half in foul trouble.
Kobe picked up his fourth foul early
in the third quarter with the Lakers down five
but Jackson decided to let him rock.
Oddly enough, that fourth foul seemed to be exactly
what Kobe needed because afterward he lit up Indiana.
He got in his bag hitting three straight shots
including this silky pull-up jumper over
the outstretched arms of Smits
helping steer LA to their first lead
of the game in the third quarter.
Shaq owned the fourth for LA, but right here,
Kobe found himself in a position he's never been in.
He's shown he can be an ideal Robin to Shaq's Batman,
but as the Lakers franchise star left the floor,
Kobe needed to be the leading hero.
And after Smits immediately hit a bucket
following Shaq's departure to cut LA's lead to one,
Kobe had to act fast.
With a little over two minutes to play,
Kobe worked the ball up the court,
broke Reggie Miller off with a smooth crossover,
and drained a deep two in his face
to push LA's lead to three.
Wait a sec.
Do you see the confidence in this kid?
I don't know exactly what's going through his head
but that's the perfect calm down, "I got this,"
reaction if I've ever seen one.
On the Lakers next possession,
Koby had one thing on his mind.
He brought the rock up the court,
didn't look for anyone else, got to his spot,
and drilled another deep two.
- [NBA Caster] How good is this kid?
- [Narrator] Well, Bob Costas, to answer your question,
this kid is fucking lights out right now.
That jumper pushed the Lakers lead to three
but the Pacers simply refused to quit.
Up one with 10 seconds to play,
Brian Shaw drove the lane and tossed up
a running jumper that bounced off the rim.
But holy shit, Kobe got in the perfect position
for a clean putback.
Without Shaq to lean on, Kobe completely took over in OT
and made the Lakers his squad for the night
on the grandest stage of them all.
With 5.9 seconds left, a Lakers stop here
would've capped off a shining moment
in their young star's career
and that's not what you want to do.
The Pacers drew a critical foul
and after a successful free throw from Reggie Miller,
that brings us here.
Now down two, Indiana can attack the situation
in a number of ways.
The Pacers could feed the ball down low
to Smits who's been masterful in overtime.
But look who's flying off a pair screens to break free.
This play is clearly designed for Reggie Miller.
And if we know anything about Reggie,
he's for sure not passing up an opportunity
to close this out.
When it comes to clutch shooting,
Reggie is arguably the most lethal threat in the NBA.
In the 1995 Eastern Conference semi-finals,
Reggie delivered a crushing blow to the New York Knicks
when he scored eight points in nine seconds
to pull off a win.
Three years later, during game four of the '98 semis,
Reggie drained a game tying three with five seconds left
against the Knicks where Indy went on to win in overtime.
I know it seems like the dude despised New York,
but he didn't discriminate.
After getting past the Knicks in that post season,
Reggie knocked down a game winner
with 0.7 seconds left from the Eastern Commerce finals
over fellow clutch ball headed shooter, Michael Jordan.
Although, no matter how much Reggie saved the day
for Indiana, the team's ultimate goal
of winning a championship never came to fruition.
The Pacers were right there several times
knocking on the door,
going to four Eastern conference finals,
but always fell short.
The clock ticked for Reg as he entered his 13th season
at 34 years old, but he didn't back down.
After losing to the Knicks in the '99 conference finals,
Reggie and the Pacers finally got over the hump
and sent the Knicks packing the following year
behind Reggie's 34 point game six performance
to advance to the NBA finals.
Despite reaching his destination on
a long journey to the finals,
Reggie seemed to run out of gas when he arrived.
He put up a stinker in game one during a blowout loss
that led journalists to bury him
and Indy's chances of winning a title.
After splitting the next two games,
Reggie balled out in this decisive game four.
He came out of the gates spraying
and hit up the Lakers for 10 points in the first.
Reggie cooled down a bit the next two quarters
but in the fourth,
the man's jumper was wetter than the tsunami.
He dropped a clean 13 points in the quarter
shooting perfect beyond the arc
including this deep ball that gave Indy
a two point lead with three minutes to play.
Reggie locked in and did what he's done so many times
before in crunch time, but the true nature
of his heroism will be tested right here.
If the Lakers get a stop, they'll take a strong three
to one series lead, but more importantly,
it'll be a defining moment for their young star
who proved he can be more than a side kick.
If Reggie knocks this down, he could add another chapter
to his legendary Pacers career
by tying the series and getting one game closer
to the finals trophy that's evaded him for years.
Welcome to a moment in history.
- [NBA Caster] Mark Jackson.
Four seconds.
Reggie off the screen for three.
The Lakers have a three one lead.
That could,
- [Narrator] Yo, thanks for watching.
I know it's kind of mean,
but if you want to see another video
of Reggie failing in the playoffs, check this out.
Or if you just love seeing LA win, we got you covered there.
Don't forget to like and subscribe
'cause we will be bringing more heat.
Peace.
(slow music)