Reggie Miller: 1997 Pacers were better than Michael Jordan's Bulls

May 12 (UPI) -- Basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller believes his 1997-98 Indiana Pacers were a better team than Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls.

Miller spoke about the matchup during a preview for the final two episodes of ESPN's The Last Dance. The Pacers and Bulls split the first six games of the 1998 Eastern Conference finals before Chicago won Game 7 to advance to the NBA Finals. Jordan went on to win his sixth -- and final -- championship.

"We all look at the Bulls as the standard model of success," Miller said Sunday, after Episode 8. "They were considered the best at that time. Be we felt -- I feel to this day -- we were the better team.

"The whole thing is, there were whispers this was going to be Mike's last year. I think a perfect storm was brewing. In my mind, I was thinking: 'This is it. You're going to retire Michael Jordan.'"

Miller hit a game-winning 3-pointer with less than a second remaining in Game 4 of the series. The Pacers had a 3-point lead with 6:02 left to play in Game 7 before Steve Kerr hit a game-tying 3-pointer to spark a late Bulls run.

Jordan went on to retire for a second time after his Bulls won the NBA Finals. He later returned to play two seasons for the Washington Wizards before he retired for a final time.

Jordan averaged 31.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game in the 1998 Eastern Conference finals. Miller posted 17.4 points, 2.0 assists and 1.6 rebounds. Jordan was the leading scorer in every game of the series.

Miller also made an appearance Monday on the Dan Patrick Show. He said he didn't want to be part of the documentary series because he "lived it." He also acknowledged he was never on "equal footing" as Jordan and called him the greatest player of all time.

"It brought back a lot of the good and bad memories of going against that dude," Miller said of The Last Dance.

Episodes 9 and 10 of The Last Dance air at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. EDT, respectively, Sunday on ESPN.