Five years ago, who would have guessed that Bob Knight would one day coach at Texas Tech? Or that Michael Jordan would play for Washington? Or that Pat Riley would coach one of the worst teams in the NBA?

As Chuck Berry once sang, it just goes to show you never can tell.

Tipoff: 7 p.m. at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

TV, radio: Sunshine, WIOD (610), WACC (830-Spanish).

Heat injuries: G Anthony Carter (abdomen), C Ernest Brown (thumb), C Sean Marks (abdomen) are out.

Pacers injuries: C Primoz Brezec (ankle) and G Norm Richardson (ankle) are out.

Scouting report: Although Jalen Rose's production has fallen off recently, the Pacers have gotten a huge lift from PF Jermaine O'Neal, who is having an All-Star-type season, and rookie PG Jamaal Tinsley, who ranks third in the NBA in assists at 9.3 per game. Coach Isiah Thomas plays Al Harrington, Jonathan Bender, Travis Best, Austin Croshere and Carlos Rogers off the bench.
Probable Heat starters
No. Player Pos. Ht. Avg. 24 Jim Jackson F 6-6 13.9 44 Brian Grant F 6-9 9.1 33 Alonzo Mourning C 6-10 14.0  6 Eddie Jones G 6-6 18.0  1 Rod Strickland G 6-1 7.7 Probable Pacers starters
No. Player Pos. Ht. Avg.  5 Jalen Rose F 6-8 18.2  7 J.O'Neal F 6-11 19.1 10 Jeff Foster C 6-11 5.9 31 Reggie Miller G 6-7 16.9 11 Jamaal Tinsley G 6-3 10.1

Isiah Thomas of the Indiana Pacers criticizes the players of today in the Indianapolis Star.  Thomas is trying to sell his team on the philosophy that all that matters is winning not individual accomplishments. "With today's players, winning is not enough," Thomas said before his team lost 98-93 to the Nets. "It's got to be winning-plus."
Winning plus individual honors. Winning plus endorsement deals. Winning plus fawning portrayals in print and on TV.

Thomas cited the problems the Los Angeles Lakers had last season when superstars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were at odds as an example of what he called the "winning-plus illusion."

"Even though Shaq and Kobe were winning, it wasn't enough. It wasn't winning plus," Thomas said.

The light has come on. You can see it in a hundred different ways, see it in the way Jamaal Tinsley passes over the defense and ahead to a streaking, dunking Jermaine O'Neal, see it in the way Al Harrington comes off the bench oozing confidence and energy.

It has happened quietly, happened under the radar of both the local and national media, but the Indiana Pacers are having the kind of sudden growth spurt that makes them a sudden contender to come out of the Eastern Conference.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- When they had the opportunity to deliver a knockout punch Saturday, the Indiana Pacers swung and missed.

Indiana squandered a seven- point lead in the final 2:32 of regulation and lost 98-93 in overtime to New Jersey Nets before a raucous crowd of 17,023 at Continental Airlines Arena.

The more the Indiana Pacers play, the more intriguing they become.

They're young. They're improving. They're entertaining. And, lately, they're winning.

 




Still, they're confusing.

The Pacers take a four-game winning streak and an 18-13 record into tonight's game at New Jersey, where they can do something they haven't done this season: beat a winning team on the road.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Gov. Jesse Ventura leaves his seat and heads for an exit during a timeout in the final minute and berates the referees as he walks along an aisle just beyond the baseline, and it's tough to know for sure at that point whether the two security guys bookending the highest elected official in the state should be more at the ready to protect Ventura from potential harm or the nearby refs from flying Body parts.

It was that kind of night. (Or that kind of governor.) The Minnesota Timberwolves had just wasted a 22-point, third-quarter lead to the Dallas Mavericks, had been outscored 34-17 in the final period and had lost by four points. Coach Flip Saunders called it a bad defeat and forward Kevin Garnett

The Indiana Pacers' roster doesn't lack for much, other than experience. But in their greedy moments, coach Isiah Thomas and team president Donnie Walsh wish they could add a center.

Not just any center, though.

 




"A good one," Walsh says.

In their optimum world, Thomas and Walsh would add a center who could allow Jeff Foster to move to his more natural position of power forward and keep Jermaine O'Neal

Michael Jordan drew a sellout crowd to Conseco Fieldhouse on Thursday night, and fans hoping to see something memorable from the basketball legend got just that.

But nobody ever said something memorable has to be good.

 




Jordan, in a sluggish performance matched by his nondescript teammates, scored a career-low six points in the Washington Wizards' 108-81 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

The dreary outing snapped Jordan's streak of 866

Scoring 26 points is nothing new for Jalen Rose.

But scoring 26 points in a revised role that asks him to fit in rather than stand out is different -- and most encouraging for the Indiana Pacers.

 




Rose did just that on Thursday, hitting 10-of-18 shots in 30 minutes to lead the Pacers to a 108-81 victory over Washington.