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The Edge: Bench
June 5, 2000
SportsLine.com staff
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| Travis Best emerged as the best Indiana point guard against the Knicks in the East finals. He often was the guy taking the big shots with the shot clock ticking down, the team's fourth-leading scorer (10 points a game) in the series on 50 percent shooting, including 6-of-9 3-point shooting. The Pacers also bring on Austin Croshere (7.4 points, 4.3 rebounds in playoffs), Sam Perkins, a dangerous 3-point threat, and Derrick McKey, a high-quality perimeter defender.
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Brian Shaw and Robert Horry took turns lifting the Lakers when they needed boosts in the Portland series, and Derek Fisher had some big minutes, too. Shaw is shooting a remarkable 52.9 percent in the playoffs (16-of-36 on 3-pointers) and had two crucial 3-pointers in the fourth quarter of Game 7 against the Blazers to help the Lakers come back from a 16-point deficit.
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| Breakdown: Best is playing at a higher level than any of the five point guards in the series (Harper, Jackson, Shaw and Fisher). He's quicker than any of those guys and when the 3-pointer is falling he draws the defense and makes Miller and Rose more dangerous. In the two regular-season games between the teams, Croshere was the leading bench scorer (12.5 points a game) and rebounder (eight a game) for either team.
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Edge: Pacers
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