The war of words between the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics has been more compelling than the basketball action on the court thus far.

The fire was lit during a second-quarter arm-wrestling and shouting match between Pacers All-Star Jermaine O'Neal and Boston reserves Brandon Hunter and Ricky Davis.  It continued with the suspension of Ron Artest  - after Boston coach John Carroll pointed the finger at and his boss Danny Ainge calling the league office to protest Artest leaving the bench.

Long before that telephone call was made, however, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle had lobbed a verbal volley, suggesting Hunter had been sent into the game to antagonize O'Neal.  The allegation was quickly and strongly denied by Carroll.

"I would never, ever, ever ruin the integrity of the game to be able to win a game," Carroll told the Boston Herald. "I would never send anybody in to hurt anybody on purpose. And so I guess the only word I would use is I'm terribly disappointed that anybody -- forget Rick Carlisle alone -- would ever say something of that nature."

Davis' profanity-laced message to the crowd after making a free throw after that Game 1 skirmish won't help things, either.

And the lingering ill feelings from last year's playoff series -- in which the No. 6-seeded Celtics upset the No. 3 Pacers -- add another twist.

"It's not some situation where we're out there hating them or they're hating us," Pacers forward Al Harrington said. "This is about us taking care of our business, staying focused and doing whatever it is we need to do to get the job done.

"It's work. Simple as that."