Before we get to the game, I just wanna address the Conseco crowd last night. Indiana has great fans, among the best in the league, but… What kind of a pussy shows up to a crucial Game 6 with a sign that says something like, “Reggie, thanks for the memories,” or “Reggie, we’ll miss you.” Could you show a little faith? Would it be too much to ask to show up and believe your team is going to win, and put that above your efforts to get your sign on TV? If I was Reggie, I’d have been pissed. They were burying Reggie before he was dead.

The man still had a job to do. He was still a competitor. Last night, that’s what he wanted. Not for people to be wishing him a happy retirement at halftime.

But anyway… the game will miss Reggie. Absolutely positively great for the game, and that’s a really high compliment for someone who’s made a career out of basically cheating. I don’t say that as an insult. But Reggie was dirty… not in the sense that he’d ever try to hurt anyone, but if he could break the rules and get away with it, he was doing it. He would’ve done anything to win. Tireless worker. He wanted the ball. The best clutch player of the last 20 years other than MJ. It’s really too bad that not every team has a Reggie Miller to root for.

But anyway… it ended last night because the Pistons did what the Pistons do. Talk about a tough win. You’ve got a team full of guys who would do anything to extend the career of their leader, a crowd with more to cheer for than most crowds ever have, an elimination game against a well-coached team, in one of the best home-court advantage buildings in the league… and they did what they had to do. Wins don’t get much tougher than that one.

For two teams that are supposed to hate each other, the Pistons and Pacers respect each other an awful lot. It’s not often that an entire visiting team and their coaching staff stop before the game’s over to give an opposing player a standing O. I really feel like these teams, despite how much they want to beat each other, also really appreciate each other. I mean, Larry Brown called an extra time-out to keep the ovation going for Reggie. The brawl actually made them come together, if that makes sense.