On May 29, 1995, In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers and Magic exchanged shots in the final 10 seconds before Rik Smits hit the game-winner as time expired, tying the series at 2-2.
Rik Smits' jersey was the first I ever got. He was my favorite player. I miss the days of Reggie Miller, Rik Smits, Mark Jackson, Dale and Antonio Davis, Derrick McKey, Haywood Workman, Sam Mitchell...
My wife and I were at this game. Probably the best live sporting event I've ever attended. MSA was literally shaking when Rik Smits his that final shot. What a great team and moment.
Rik Smits is one of my favorite centers of all time.. people think I'm crazy but I'll pick him up over shaq.. I have my reasons but Smits is definitely underrated by far.. great video
Ur not crazy, Shaq himself said in an interview that "Rik Smits used to wear me out" can't remember the interview or I'd send u the link, but he did say that about Smits. Smits had a nice touch and could shoot the ball which pulled opposing teams centers away from the block and opened things up cuz u know back in the 90's the paint was full of players unlike today. I miss 80's & 90's NBA
@@AceXun13Way late on my reply, don't know how i missed ur comment but ur welcome and thank u as well.👍🏻 Grew up and live in Indy but was a huge MJ/Bulls fan from '87 on but i will say the '98 Pacers came closer than anyone to knocking MJ and the Bulls off, had it not been for hack a Dale Davis and Kukoc having a big game, especially the 3rd quarter, MJ would only have 5 rings. Noone else other than the Knicks in '92 and Pacers in '98 took the Bulls to 7 but the Knicks got blew out. I firmly believe had those 2 things not took place the Pacers would've won cuz MJ had a off day and only shot 9 for 25. Kukoc saved the Bulls that day. I miss the old NBA when players didn't team up with other gr8's they wanted to beat them. But yeah Smits was way underrated and I think he should be in the HOF.
Here I am going on a deep dive of Pacer playoff highlights after losing to Boston this last week. 1995 sure was a season of heart attack, last second, exciting finishes
I loved this Pacers team so much that I actually pulled for them over my own Bulls in the '98 conference finals. I knew the Bulls would be broken up and wanted to see the torch passed to a worthy successor.
My all time favorite environment was & is still the Miller led Pacers at MSA for big Playoff games. All the scalping outside before games, before Stubhub & the net. It was live in the building & the big screens outside the arena for everybody. Listen to the juice in tht crowd during the post game interview!
Yep the 90s were the best Pacer team ever, my favorite lineup was Reggie and Mark at guard, Rik Smits at center, and the Davis brothers at forward... such a talented and tough team, they deserved at least one NBA title!
Yep the 80s and 90s we're the best years of the NBA IMHO and as a Pacer fan I loved watching these guys play...they were talented and tough and brought it all every night!
As a former knick fan i hated them indiana pacers because they was hard nose gritty and after the ewing missed layup i refused to watch any of the first 3 games and it came to me watching game 4 two things for me one i didnt want the magic to win because shaq would have gotten one before ewing and two i began to really admire that pacer team because they reminded me of the knicks with their style and game 4 was the craziest wildest finish outside of reggie 4th qtr comebacks in 94 and 95 and that shot by shaw i was like they done then reggie hits im like ok i seen that before the magic done then penny hits that shot im like wtf oh they done now and then smits hits the winner i am like yo this pacer team dont go away . that pacer team was like when duke said to creed in rocky 2 i saw you beat that man like no man ever did before and the man kept coming after you now we dont need that kinda of a man in our life i know what ya feeling let it go. And that pacer team was a problem the last half of the 90s true competitors. Ironically shaq would get his first ring before ewing and he had to go through indiana to get it 5 years later but the pacers they was a team that people dont give alot of credit to or seen as a championship squad but in a 7 game series you wouldnt want to battle them either for 7 games just ask newyork chicago orlando and even though it went 6 games the lakers.
Multiple awesome moments in Pacers playoff history...and this one takes a backseat to 8 points in 8.9 seconds in New York a couple weeks earlier and especially game 4 Killer Miller 1998! Go Pacers!!!!
90s Eastern contending teams. Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic Charlotte Hornets , Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers. 90's Western Contenders : Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, Seattle Supersonics, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, Portland Trailblazers... When Basketball was the most exciting game on the planet. Real hustle, Real defense, physical war game in game out. No easy lay ups If you were going in the paint expect to be hit
Rik Smits still has the respect of Shaq . In 2000 the Shaq and Kobe Lakers were ferocious, yet Rik and Reggie managed to win twice. Maybe the best team in eastern conference without a ring. Too bad they couldn’t have played Utah for championship once.
Indiana was a few plays from winning that Lakers series. The problem was I think the Pacers were scared of the Lakers in the first 2 games but after that the Pacers dominated the Lakers and the Lakers needed some luck like they did against Portland to win the series.
Last night this end game score was passed just after halftime Haliburton broke reggies most points in a quarter team broke most points ina game And everybody wants defense lol
Why? cuz they were the real deal, I can maybe understand hating Miller cuz he would talk alotta smack but Smits? How can u hate a guy like that, he don't do nothing but his job, and was good at it also.
@@youtuber3328 What 5? I just read about the Pacers. I could understand if that were true but in my opinion there were just too many dramatic finishes......For example the Pacers vs Magic in the "Memorial Day Miracle" in game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 28th 1995 when there were 4 lead changes in the the final 13.3 seconds, Brian Shaw hitting a 3 to put the Magic up, the Miller hit a 3 to regain the lead, then Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway hit a 3 to give the Magic the lead again with only 1.3 seconds left and then Rik Smits hit the game winner. One of the greatest endings in NBA history. I understand everyone is entitled to their own beliefs but to me there are just too many games with miraculous type finishes to assume the games were rigged. This just being 1 example. U couldn't have scripted and had a dramatic ending like this if anyone had tried. Anyhow another gr8 game from the 90's, best era of NBA ever imo.
@@youtuber3328 Oh ok, just wasn't sure about the teams u were referring to. Now I won't deny that I believe that some professional teams that know they aren't going to make the playoffs might possibly just kinda lose on purpose in order to possibly get a higher draft pick, especially if there's a potential franchise player coming up in the next draft which I still don't agree with or like for several reasons, 1 being ppl pay their hard earned $ to go to those games and it sets a lazy/bad mentality with their current players, that and the player they might be hoping to aquire might not live up to the hype just based on bad luck or injuries, kinda like Zion for example, a exceptional talent but Injuries have gotten in the way. Just outta curiosity, do u hate todays Pacers? Or just the old Pacers teams? I think they got 2 gr8 players in Bennedict Mathurin and Tyrese Haliburton. But I'll be honest I really don't even keep up with the NBA these days for numerous reasons, u can't breathe on a player without it being a foul and all they wanna do is jack up 3's. To me 80's & 90's and early 2000's was the best time in NBA history. Ok I'll stop rambling on, lol, nice chatting w/ya and have a gr8 day ✌
