8 points, 9 seconds
Fansided

Indiana Pacers 15 greatest playoff moments

By Jonathan Matthes

INDIANAPOLIS - APRIL 28: Reggie Miller #31 of the Indiana Pacers sits on the scorer's table during the game against the Boston Celtics in Game three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2005 NBA Playoffs at Conseco Fieldhouse on April 28, 2005 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers won 99-76 to take a 2-1 series lead. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2005 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS - APRIL 28: Reggie Miller #31 of the Indiana Pacers sits on the scorer's table during the game against the Boston Celtics in Game three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2005 NBA Playoffs at Conseco Fieldhouse on April 28, 2005 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Pacers won 99-76 to take a 2-1 series lead. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2005 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 16
Next
Indiana Pacers
(Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Hang ’em high ’75

Dancing Harry, Big Mac and the run to the 1975 ABA Finals

The 1974-75 season did not begin magically. The Pacers started 4-11 with little hope for a return to recent glory. Roger Brown was a shell of himself, Mel Daniels was gone, and it would be George McGinnis’ last season with the ABA Pacers. But the Pacers rallied, as Pacers teams normally do. The playoffs were something else.

The playoffs began in San Antonio against George Gervin and the Spurs. It had the makings of a classic western shootout, two strong offenses going against each other, two stars in Gervin and McGinnis, and the Pacers marketing department addressed the occasion accordingly, adorning the matchup with an old western moniker, based off a popular Clint Eastwood movie: the “Hang ’em high” series.

The tense series saw Indiana get up 3-0 on the Spurs, only for the Spurs to rally, winning the next two games by a combined 7 points. It was on to Indianapolis for game six, where there Pacers dipped further into their bag of gimmicks.

They called him Dancing Harry. Dancing Harry was a man (from Baltimore), always in a floppy hat occasionally in a cape, whom the Pacers hired to step onto the court during timeouts and dance around in front of the Spurs bench putting hexes on them, which Dancing Harry called “whammies.”

All of game six, each time-out, Dancing Harry did his thing to the delight of the home fans, dancing and hexing/whamming the Spurs all the while. The Pacers won 115-100 and moved on to the Western Conference Finals against Bobby Jones and the vaunted Denver Nuggets. Dancing Harry came with.

Dancing Harry was now a star. The Nuggets tried to duplicate his mystical effect, with Robota “the wicked witch of the west” who did the exact same thing for the Nuggets to the Pacers. It was the Western Conference finals: the underdog Pacers, the favored Nuggets, with two gyrating warlocks trying to foil the opposing team. The magic of Dancing Harry was stronger than Robota’s (McGinnis’ 30.6 ppg plus Billy Knight’s 24.6 and Billy Keller’s 16 also helped), and the Pacers dispatched the Nuggets 104-96 in Denver in game seven. McGinnis dropped 40 in the decisive game.

Home/Pacers All-Time Lists