Paul Westphal, after predicting that the Phoenix Suns would rally from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers, is using unorthodox methods to accomplish the feat.
The Phoenix coach, concerned his players were pressing, avoided talking basketball strategy at halftime before the Suns broke open a close game in the third period and beat the Lakers 101-86 Thursday night. The outcome tied the best-of-5 series 2-2 and brought Westphal within one victory, in Phoenix on Sunday, of seeing his prediction come true."We told a few jokes, we didn't talk about basketball," Westphal said. "That was our strategy. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I've never done it before and I'll probably never do it again.
"I just felt we weren't loose enough."
Charles Barkley had 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Suns, who lost the first two games of the series at home. Westphal, noting a 23-game disparity between the two teams in the regular season, said after Game 2 that Phoenix would still win the series.
No team has ever lost the first two games of a best-of-5 series at home and come back to win. At the same time, since the current playoff format was adopted nine years ago, no eighth-seeded team has won a series over a No. 1 seed.
Tonight's games have Cleveland at New Jersey and Portland at San Antonio in series the Cavaliers and Spurs lead 2-1. In deciding fifth games on Saturday, Utah will be at Seattle and the Los Angeles Clippers at Houston.
Rookie Oliver Miller and Kevin Johnson added 16 points each for the Suns, who took the lead for good with an 11-0 run that gave them a 62-51 lead in the third quarter.
Phoenix was the NBA's best team during the regular season, with a 62-20 record, while the Lakers, at 39-43, were the only playoff team with a losing record.
"I was really pumped," Barkley said. "(But) we ain't done anything yet."
Then, he added with a laugh, "I'm not sure we've got the homecourt advantage now," a reference to the fact the visiting team has won all four games so far.
"This may seem funny, but if I had to play one game with it all on the line, I'd rather play it on the road," Lakers coach Randy Pfund said. "I know this - we've been a better road team all year than at home."
The Lakers were 20-21 at the Forum this season and 19-22 away from home.
Vlade Divac led the Lakers with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Tony Smith scored 15 points and A.C. Green had 15 rebounds for Los Angeles.
Miller had harsh words for Divac, who scored 30 points for Los Angeles in Game 3.
"Vlade Divac was crying the whole game, he was wimping the whole game, he is a wimp," Miller said. "The game plan was not to let Vlade have easy shots and play tough defense."
Los Angeles outscored the Suns 7-2 in the first two minutes of the second half to take a 46-45 lead, its last advantage of the game.
Knicks 109, Pacers 100, OT
Doc Rivers, a 31.7 percent 3-point shooter during the regular season, hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 of New York's 23 points in the final eight minutes of regulation and overtime at Indiana.
The outcome gave the Knicks a 3-1 series victory and a berth in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Charlotte, which beat Boston in the Hornets' first NBA postseason appearance.
The Pacers stayed winless in six playoff appearances despite Reggie Miller's 33 points, raising his average in the series to 31.5. But Miller scored just three points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
"He got into a zone for a while, but in the fourth quarter we locked him down," the Knicks' John Starks said of Miller. "He didn't score any in overtime and that's where it counts. The final word is the scoreboard."
The Pacers, who led by as many as 14 points in the first period, never went ahead in overtime. Patrick Ewing, who had 28 points, put the Knicks ahead to stay, 96-94.
Rivers, who had 21 points and 11 assists, gave the Knicks a 101-97 lead with his first overtime 3-pointer. After Detlef Schrempf turned the ball over with a bad pass, Rivers hit another 3-pointer to put New York ahead 104-97 with 1:16 remaining.
His final 3-pointer gave New York a 107-98 lead with 44 seconds left.