INDIANAPOLIS (AP) About three months ago, the last place Rick Carlisle thought he would be was back in Indiana, coaching the team with the best record in the NBA.

Carlisle, who had just been fired by Detroit, was preparing to spend the season as a television analyst when new Pacers president Larry Bird called about the job.

``The whole thing has been kind of a shotgun deal,'' Carlisle said about his return to the Pacers less than a month before the start of the regular season.

He was an assistant when Bird coached Indiana from 1997-2000, but only four players remain from that team. So he anticipated some growing pains as he got reacquainted with the Pacers.

``It was very hard for the staff and the players that we were thrust into this so late in the summer,'' Carlisle said. ``You can't oversell the importance of having three months during the summer to get to know your team.''

Carlisle's complex offensive system has produced peaks and valleys, but the hard-nosed defensive style he has instilled has carried the team to a 9-2 record, the league's best this season.

So far, six of their 11 games have come down to the last possession, with Indiana winning five of them.

``We've shown a lot of character to this point,'' Carlisle said. ``We've been in a lot of close games and gutted a lot of them out.''

While Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Al Harrington have been enjoying solid offensive seasons, the defense has been the unquestioned star. The Pacers are second in the league in scoring defense, allowing 82.9 points a game.

Wednesday night's win over the Los Angeles Clippers provides a perfect illustration. The Clippers came into the game averaging a league-high 102.6 points a game. The Pacers held them to a season-low in their 91-78 win.

Artest, long one of the NBA's better man-to-man defenders, has taken his game to another level. Carmelo Anthony, Rashard Lewis and Quentin Richardson all brought lofty scoring reputations into a game against Artest, and all three have been locked down by the intense and physical defender.

``Our defense is more important to our offense than vice versa,'' Carlisle said.

It's that attitude, plus his extraordinary attention to detail and daily improvement, that has been most responsible for the Pacers' early success.

Carlisle replaced Isiah Thomas, who took the Pacers to the playoffs all three years but never made it past the first round.

He brought a straight-laced, defense-first approach to training camp in September, and the players have soaked it up.

``He's our coach now and we have to practice what he preaches,'' forward Jeff Foster said. ``Defensively, we've stepped it up to another level. With time the offense will come around, too.''

The offense is still a work in progress and has been prone to long scoring droughts during games. That's because the players have had a more difficult time adjusting to Carlisle's style, which relies on him calling the plays on most trips down the floor. In contrast, Thomas ran a much more fluid, freewheeling attack.

``Right now, we're just still trying to figure it out,'' said O'Neal, who is day-to-day with tendinitis in his right knee. ``Everyday is a new challenge for this team. For the most part, we've stepped up to the challenge and answered all the questions about this team so far.''

The next challenge comes Friday night at New Orleans. The Hornets are one game behind the Pacers in the Central Division.

``It's definitely a statement game about who's the best in the East right now,'' Harrington said.