Smits Helps Pacers Push Knicks To Brink

Indiana’s center has the Pacers one win away from retribution.

The revenge Indiana has sought since losing to New York in the Eastern Conference finals last year could be close at hand after the Pacers took a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven conference semifinal series Saturday in Indianapolis.

Rik Smits, the suddenly much-appreciated man in the middle, had 25 points and 11 rebounds, thoroughly dominating the struggling Patrick Ewing in Indiana’s 98-84 victory.

The Pacers have been in a similar position before. They led 3-2 last year only to lose in seven games. This team, Smits said, is a better one.

“As a team, we feel a lot more experienced and confident enough that we can beat the Knicks this series,” he said.

Game 5 is Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, where the Pacers won once during the regular season and then stole Game 1. Despite their success there, Reggie Miller expects the playoff-toughened Knicks to draw upon their considerable experience.

“It’s going to be tough to close it out,” he said. “We have to come out and match their intensity.”

The Knicks are facing elimination in five games for the first time in coach Pat Riley’s four seasons with the team. Although only four teams have rebounded from 3-1 deficits to win a seven-game series, John Starks brashly predicted New York would be the fifth.

“We’re going to win the series,” he said.

Riley wasn’t nearly so confident after seeing his team shoot 43 percent from the field and 64 percent from the foul line and get outrebounded for the fourth straight game.

“Our circumstances are dire right now,” he said.

Miller scored 21 points for Indiana, but much of the credit for the Pacers’ Game 4 win goes to Smits, who took advantage of Ewing’s nagging injuries by darting around him in the paint or slipping away to get open jumpers. Smits hit 9 of 16 and had 10 points in the third quarter, mostly on jumpers.

“I know I can hit 15-footers consistently,” he said. “It helps everybody if I get going on the inside. If I draw the double team, it opens everything up.”

The Pacers led by 18 early in the fourth, but New York wasn’t finished. The Knicks used a 14-4 spurt to cut it to seven with 3:24 left on Anthony Mason’s tip-in. That, however, was their last field goal until a basket by Ewing with 36 seconds left.

Ewing had 25 points for New York and Derek Harper added 12 and nine assists. Harper and Starks, the Knicks’ outside shooters, went a combined 8 of 24 with Starks missing 9 of 13 shots one game after hitting seven 3-pointers.

Pacers 98, Knicks 84

NEW YORK (84)

Oakley 4-11 3-5 11, Smith 5-9 0-0 10, Ewing 10-17 4-6 25, Harper 4-11 2-2 12, Starks 4-13 1-2 11, Mason 2-3 1-4 5, H.Williams 0-1 0-0 0, H.Davis 2-5 1-1 6, Anthony 1-5 2-2 4. Totals 32-75 14-22 84.

INDIANA (98)

D.Davis 4-6 0-0 8, McKey 4-9 3-3 11, Smits 9-16 7-8 25, Jackson 3-6 2-2 9, Miller 6-13 5-5 21, A.Davis 1-4 3-4 5, Workman 0-2 4-6 4, Scott 2-5 0-1 4, Mitchell 4-7 3-4 11, Kite 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-68 27-33 98.

New York 21 23 17 23 - 84

Indiana 24 19 34 21 - 98

3-Point goals-New York 6-18 (Harper 2-3, Starks 2-8, Ewing 1-1, H.Davis 1-2 Oakley 0-1, Anthony 0-3), Indiana 5-11 (Miller 4-6, Jackson 1-3, McKey 0-1, Workman 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-New York 39 (Oakley 10), Indiana 53 (Smits 11). Assists-New York 23 (Harper 10), Indiana 23 (Jackson 11). Total fouls-New York 24, Indiana 24. Technicals-Anthony, New York illegal defense, Indiana illegal defense. A-16,678 (16,530).

Rockets 118, Suns 85

Houston

Hakeem Olajuwon was at his best and Charles Barkley at his worst. As a result, Houston rebounded from two straight lopsided losses to rout Phoenix in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Olajuwon had 36 points and 11 rebounds, and the Rockets held Barkley to a career playoff-low five points in the blowout.

“If we play like this all the time, we’ll be champions again,” Olajuwon said. “This is the best team defense we’ve played all year.”

Barkley, who averaged 31.4 points in his first five playoff games, was 0 for 10 from the field and sat out the fourth quarter.

“It was my fault. I’ll take the blame for us,” Barkley said. “I don’t think I ever scored five points before. It was just a bad game by me. I let everybody down. I got good shots. I missed five layups.”

Houston still trails the series 2-1, but the Rockets took the first step toward a possible repeat of last year’s playoff comeback against Phoenix. The Rockets also lost the first two games to the Suns last year before rallying to win in seven games, and going on to win the NBA championship.

The 33-point victory was the most lopsided margin in a series of routs. Phoenix won the first game 130-108 and the second 118-94.

“I can’t explain the swings of momentum in this series,” said Clyde Drexler, who scored 23 points for Houston. “It’s like in Games 1 and 2, we were wearing white suits and didn’t want to get dirty. We did the dirty work today.”

PHOENIX (85)

Barkley 0-10 5-6 5, Green 3-8 6-6 12, Kleine 4-8 0-0 8, Johnson 4-8 6-6 14, Person 1-6 0-0 3, Tisdale 4-9 2-2 10, Majerle 1-4 1-2 3, Schayes 1-2 2-2 4, Ainge 5-8 0-0 12, Perry 5-9 0-0 10, Ruffin 2-4 0-1 4. Totals 30-76 22-25 85.

HOUSTON (118)

Chilcutt 2-3 0-0 5, Horry 7-10 1-1 17, Olajuwon 16-27 4-5 36, Drexler 8-14 4-4 23, Smith 3-10 5-6 12, Brown 4-8 0-0 9, Cassell 4-6 2-2 10, Jones 1-2 1-2 3, Elie 1-4 1-2 3, Tabak 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 46-86 18-22 118.

Phoenix 21 19 18 27 - 85

Houston 29 33 25 31 - 118

3-Point goals-Phoenix 3-14 (Ainge 2-5, Person 1-4, Barkley 0-1, Green 0-1, Ruffin 0-1, Majerle 0-2), Houston 8-20 (Drexler 3-5, Horry 2-4, Chilcutt 1-1, Brown 1-1, Smith 1-6, Cassell 0-1, Elie 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds- Phoenix 42 (Green 9), Houston 51 (Olajuwon 11). Assists- Phoenix 19 (Barkley, Johnson, Ainge 4), Houston 25 (Drexler 8). Total fouls-Phoenix 20, Houston 22. A-16,611 (16,611).