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NBA's Playoff Gap Can't Match That of Pacers-Colonels

A seven-day gap separates the start of the NBA Finals from the end of the last conference final. That's a sore point among fans and players, with the possible exception of Cleveland guard Kyrie Irving, who has a sore knee and needs time to heal.

Such a long layoff breaks rhythm and allows rust to accumulate in a team, but it could have been worse. Forty years ago, the ABA had a nine-day break between the final two playoff rounds, when the Pacers and Kentucky Colonels were forced to experience unprecedented delayed gratification.

The Pacers reached the ABA Finals in 1975 after surviving a seven-game series with Denver. That series ended on May 3, but they weren't able to start the championship round against the Colonels until May 13. Indianapolis newspaper articles didn't offer an explanation. Nor does a book on the Colonels' history. Nor do a few of the participants. Almost certainly, it had to do with the Colonels' home court, Freedom Hall, in Louisville being otherwise occupied.

The Colonels had it worse, though. They had wrapped up their conference final in five games, on April 28. They had to wait 14 days to play again.

Whether nine days or 14, the prolonged layoff was a shock to the system for players in a league where regular season schedules were routinely unforgiving. The Pacers played on three consecutive nights 10 times that season, and played four in a row once. They finished the season playing six games over seven days, with the only day off coming on March 31, when John Wooden coached UCLA to his last NCAA tournament title.

To suddenly slam on the brakes and stop for so long between playoff rounds must have been frustrating. Or confusing. Or numbing. Or something. Truth is, those contacted don't remember much about it.

"We just relaxed," George McGinnis recalls. "We got together to go out to eat a couple of times, or went over to someone's house. We were a close team."

"Whatever we did, it didn't work," Billy Knight, a rookie that season, jokingly adds.

We'll get to that later.

After winning Game 7 of their conference final at Denver on May 3, the Pacers flew back to Indianapolis the next day. They resumed practice on May 7 after a three-day break, took off the 11th as well, and opened the Finals on the 13th.

Coach Bob "Slick" Leonard added some options to his offense during the five practices, but otherwise everyone just tried to deal with the drudgery the best they could. They couldn't complain because the Colonels were dealing with an even longer layoff, but that didn't mean they had to like it.

"You figure when players get into that zone, when they're clicking like a team, a day or two off is good," Darnell Hillman recalls. "But you start getting to that third or fourth day, you're not getting a chance to continue that razor sharp edge. It's going to get dull.

"You're just sitting around waiting to play."

When May 13 finally rolled around and the two teams were able to resume their playoff march in Freedom Hall, Indianapolis News beat writer Larry Fortner wrote, "These guys have practically been out of work long enough to qualify for unemployment benefits."

The long wait didn't seem to curtail the public's interest much. Game 1, played on a Tuesday, drew 14,368 fans to Freedom Hall. Several Pacers fans attended, too, taking advantage of the package offer of a game ticket, food, drink and bus transportation down I-65 to Louisville for $17.50.

The layoff had to have an impact on the players, though. Guard Don Buse predicted a "ragged" beginning, but Leonard didn't think it would take long to regain the groove that had enabled his team to upset San Antonio and Denver in the first two rounds.

"I think after the first quarter or so we'll be back in the swing of things," he said. "We'd better be."

They weren't. The Pacers trailed by six after the first quarter and by a manageable 10 after the third, but were outscored in the final period 37-21. Kentucky's 120-94 victory was convincing, and a harsh wake-up call for the Pacers.

Game 2 turned out to be the fulcrum of the series. Billy Keller hit a shot from just beyond midcourt that would have won the game for the Pacers, but referee Ed Rush ruled it had come after the buzzer. The Pacers protested vehemently on the court, crowding around Rush at the scorer's table to plead their case. Rush's ruling was upheld. Then, as Rush and the other referees were being led off the court, Pacers guard Kevin Joyce reportedly struck a police officer acting as security, Joe Lampkin, hitting him in the eye and damaging his hat.

Lampkin wanted to have Joyce arrested. According to the Colonels trainer, Lloyd "Pinky" Gardner, who co-authored a book on the Colonels, team owner John Y. Brown bribed Lampkin with a hat and shirt. The Pacers, meanwhile, agreed to pay medical bills, and Joyce apologized. Later, the Indianapolis newspapers reported video replays showed Joyce had not struck Lampkin. It wasn't viewed that way in Louisville.

Regardless, the Pacers filed a protest, claiming Keller's shot should have counted, and the series should be tied 1-1. Dave DeBusschere had just been installed as ABA's new commissioner, and he would make the determination. But he couldn't get to Indianapolis to do so until after Game 3, which the Colonels won. On the afternoon of Game 4, DeBusschere upheld the call and Kentucky's two-point victory in Game 2, giving Kentucky a 3-0 lead.

The Pacers won Game 4 at Market Square Arena to avoid the sweep, but lost the final game in Louisville, 110-105. The Colonels, led by future Hall of Famers Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel and Louie Dampier, were the favored team, and likely would have won the series under almost any circumstance.

The Pacers – who had won three ABA championships and defeated the Colonels two years earlier for their last title – weren't overly disappointed. They had been predicted a middle-of-the-pack team, but had succeeded well beyond that. In fact, Leonard considered it one of the most enjoyable seasons of his coaching career, and still does. The 1973-74 season had been trying, as the aging group that had won three titles grew stale. He had a younger team this time around, with rookies Knight and Len Elmore in the starting lineup.

"The cohesion is super," Leonard had told the Indianapolis Star's John Bansch before the finals began. "And it's been so nice this year because of the squad's attitude."

Leonard did have a major holdover from the previous two title teams, though. McGinnis was at his absolute peak then, averaging 29.8 points, 14.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.6 steals during the regular season to share league MVP honors with Julius Erving. He averaged 32 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists in the playoffs, and 27 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the Finals despite limping through the last few games – from either a pulled groin or a hip pointer, he says. Watch His Game 4 Highlights »

"I can't say enough about George McGinnis that season," Leonard says today.

McGinnis, meanwhile, can't say enough about Slick, heaping praise on his in-game adjustments and his knack for instilling confidence in his players.

Neither can say anything about the loss in the Finals, though. It had turned out to be worth the wait only for the Colonels, who had the longer delay but the better team.

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