The only problem with Larry Bird calling out the Indiana Pacers was that it may have come one game too late. “I can’t believe my team went soft,” the Pacers president told the Indianapolis Star late Tuesday. “S-O-F-T. I’m disappointed. I never thought it would happen.”
But the Miami Heat’s 115-83 rout over Indiana in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals was merely a continuation of what had begun in Game 4 — after the Pacers mistakenly believed they had clinched the series by winning Games 2 and 3.
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It was after a 137-104 loss to the Lakers in Game 3 of the 1984 NBA Finals that Bird called his Boston Celtics teammates “sissies.” They went on to win in seven. The Pacers, down 3-2, don’t have any margin for error.
The Pacers are young and inexperienced, so perhaps they don’t know better. And as impressive as he has been, perhaps Indiana coach Frank Vogel has a little too much good cop in him.
Which makes Bird’s swooping in with a dose of tough love all the more appropriate.
– Craig Stouffer
