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April 29, 2000 By Mike Kahn SportsLine.com Executive Editor |
There are those who believe that Pat Riley cut his head open on purpose.
OK, maybe nobody really believes the stitches above the eye of the Miami Heat coach were anything more than the clumsy result of a flip-turn in his pool, just like he said.
But nobody would put it past him. His locker room antics over the years with the Lakers, Knicks and now with the Heat have caused legendary destruction. So what's a little cut over the eye?
"I was doing my (seven-time Olympic gold medal-winner) Mark Spitz imitation," Riley quipped.
Whatever the source of his injury, the result was a first for the Heat. Saddled with the impact of consecutive first-round playoff exits the past two seasons, Riley and the Heat completed their first sweep Saturday afternoon. The decisive 91-72 victory over the Detroit Pistons (playing without injured Grant Hill) set up the Heat for a nice week-long respite to watch and await the winner of the New York-Toronto series scheduled for Saturday in Miami.
The hope, of course, is that the time off will create enough of a rehabilitation period for point guard Tim Hardaway to recover significantly from a sprained foot. If not, rookie Anthony Carter will continue to dominate time at point guard.
"The next series will be more difficult no matter what," Heat center Alonzo Mourning said.
No doubt. Meanwhile, they can take solace in the fact Riley increased his record playoff victory total to 152 (against just 93 losses), and the prospect of yet another street-fight series with the Knicks.
"I think they respect us and we respect them," said Riley, who coached the Knicks from 1991-95. "But both teams want to move on."
Things looked real good for the San Antonio Spurs, even without Tim Duncan, still sidelined while the torn cartilage in his knee is healing. With just 10 minutes left in Game 3 -- with the series tied 1-1 -- the Spurs were leading by 10 and center David Robinson was on the bench.
That left the America West Arena crowd quiet, with all three of the Suns injured players -- Jason Kidd, Tom Gugliotta and Rex Chapman -- looking forlorn in street clothes.
Then the Suns found a glimpse of daylight, so to speak.
Swingman Todd Day, seeing extended action due to the injuries, scored all 16 of his points in the fourth quarter to lead a stunning 101-94 victory for the surprising Suns. Penny Hardaway kept the Suns alive throughout the game with a triple-double -- 17 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds -- but it was Day who made the difference. And Scott Skiles continues to prove what an exceptional rookie coach he is.
The game figured to be decided by someone unexpected due to all of the injuries. Rumors became rampant leading up to the game that Duncan would see action coming off the bench, and that Kidd might even see some time, but both players remained on the sidelines.
"I said he (Duncan) may end up coming off the bench, not that he would," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We're not going to let him play until we see him scrimmage in practice and he hasn't had any contact. So we're not going to risk that."
Just as it began to look like things couldn't spin more out of control for the Raptors and their rather "talkative" coach, Butch Carter, he was at it again.
Now Carter claims the team has slipped to 0-2 against the Knicks heading into Sunday's Game 3 because they're more concerned with contract issues than playing basketball.
Tracy McGrady, Dee Brown and Muggsy Bogues are all free agents after the season, the only three in the Raptors rotation whose contracts are ending July 1.
As one NBA scout said this week, "You'd think Butch has some kind of 'death-wish' about coaching in the NBA. At some point in time, you've got to just shut up and focus on basketball. Everything he's doing is distracting the team."
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Complete NBA playoffs coverage T O P N E W S
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