The Pacers held the New Jersey Nets to 38.9 percent from the field Tuesday night but managed to lose -- or better yet, give away -- a slop-fest of a game because they committed 20 turnovers and gave up 18 offensive rebounds.
Tell me when this all starts sounding a little familiar.
"If my history is right, we lost a lot of games like that last year," said Reggie Miller after the Pacers' fourth-quarter collapse turned into a 103-97 loss to the spectacularly mundane New Jersey Nets. "It's the same old story."
If Game One of the Pacers' 82-game marathon offered anything, it showed this team hasn't quite grown up just yet. It might happen tonight, or next month, or maybe never. But a smart, seasoned team does not let an inept New Jersey team off the hook countless times through the first three quarters, then take a mental vacation for the rest of the fourth.
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Jalen Rose scored a career-high 43 points and the Indiana Pacers led by as many as 17 points in the first half Tuesday.
But one half does not an NBA game make, as the Pacers were painfully reminded when a second-half meltdown led to a 103-97 defeat to the New Jersey Nets in the season opener at Continental Airlines Arena.
"It's hard to celebrate success when you've lost the war," said Rose, whose 16-footer with 4:29 left enabled him to top his previous high of 42 points set against the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 20, 2000. "I'd much rather walk through the shower and have guys slapping me on the back in the locker room after a win."
Instead, teammates almost whispered their praise of Rose in a locker-room scene that resembled a wake.
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The Indiana Pacers' locker room was a calm and happy place Sunday afternoon.
The players, fresh out of a team meeting and looking forward to tonight's season-opener in New Jersey, were lifting weights and receiving treatment for injuries.
Then Derrick McKey dropped a bombshell. Having just returned from team president Donnie Walsh's office, McKey began circulating to tell everyone he had been waived.
"Half of the guys didn't believe me," McKey said Monday night from his home in Zionsville. "They said, 'Stop playing.' It's not a good feeling to say goodbye."
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Pacers Oct 2001 Archive
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| Oct 30, 2001
Everyone has their reason to believe.
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| Oct 30, 2001
It never was easy to explain the value of Derrick McKey.
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| Oct 29, 2001
The AP reports: Derrick McKey, a 14-year NBA veteran, was waived Monday by the Indiana Pacers.
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| Oct 29, 2001
It's not unusual for an NBA team to talk about wanting to utilize its speed and athleticism in a fast-break offense.
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| Oct 28, 2001
Rookie point guard Jamaal Tinsley, who started when Jalen Rose was forced to sit out five preseason games with injury and illness, was torched defensively, shot poorly and coughed up his share of turnovers.
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| Oct 28, 2001
Thomas will further implement an offensive system that renders the traditional position designations obsolete.
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| Oct 28, 2001
Jeff Foster, thanks to an improved jump shot, appears capable of averaging a double-double for points and rebounds if he gets starter's minutes.
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| Oct 28, 2001
"Pressure's a good thing," Thomas said as he stood deep in Conseco Fieldhouse.
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| Oct 28, 2001
"Everybody said last year was a great year for me, but it was an average year," O'Neal told reporters the day before training camp opened for the Indiana Pacers.
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| Oct 27, 2001
Now there's no doubt as to who the Indiana Pacers starters will be in Tuesday's season opener.
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| Oct 27, 2001
Al Harrington, Austin Croshere and Travis Best will come off the bench for the Indiana Pacers when the real games start Tuesday night.
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| Oct 26, 2001
For the first time in 17 years, the Pacers will open a season with a rookie in the starting lineup.
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| Oct 25, 2001
In a surprising move, Jamal Tinsley has reportedly won the starting point guard position according to Conrad Brunner of Pacers.
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| Oct 25, 2001
Bender scored just 12 points in the first four preseason games, looking no more comfortable than the player who averaged 3.
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| Oct 24, 2001
While sitting out the past five preseason games, Jalen Rose got a taste of what it's like to be a spectator.
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| Oct 23, 2001
Indiana Pacers coach Isiah Thomas decided Monday that Brezec, a 7-1 rookie from Slovenia, was ready to start an NBA exhibition game against a formidable front line.
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| Oct 22, 2001
Jermaine O'Neal, who will play in his home state tonight, had 23 points in 21 minutes in Saturday's 91-90 win at Chicago.
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| Oct 21, 2001
There was one strong message sent during the Bulls' preseason exercise Saturday night:
A little patience with a player who jumped to the NBA straight from high school can have a sizable payoff.
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| Oct 21, 2001
Indiana Coach Isiah Thomas knows a thing or two about coaching players who have made the jump from High School to the pro's.
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| Oct 21, 2001
''I think in a lot of ways, it's made him younger and it's also been refreshing to him to be around younger players who are trying to do things the right way, who really are trying to win in this league,'' Thomas said.
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| Oct 21, 2001
The Pacers showed an ability to rebound from Friday's dreary defeat by playing superbly in the first three quarters of a 91-90 win over the Chicago Bulls at United Center.
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| Oct 19, 2001
The off-season could have been filled with anxiety for Travis Best.
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| Oct 18, 2001
When you're The Man, a bona-fide star for your team instead of some corporate-manufactured sneaker pusher, then what you do is stay.
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| Oct 18, 2001
When Antonio Davis played for the Indiana Pacers, he was a valuable backup forward.
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| Oct 18, 2001
Winning an unusually spirited preseason game between two Central Division rivals, the Pacers dominated the fourth quarter to take down the Raptors 106-96 on Wednesday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.
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| Oct 17, 2001
Sometimes these questions are agonizingly vexing.
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| Oct 17, 2001
The current Pacers team has five players who never attended an American university (Jermaine O'Neal, Al Harrington, Jonathan Bender, Primoz Brezec and Bruno Sundov).
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| Oct 17, 2001
He may look the same, but Indiana Pacers forward Austin Croshere says he's a completely different player than last season.
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| Oct 16, 2001
What had been a relatively painless preseason has taken an uncomfortable twist for the Indiana Pacers.
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| Oct 15, 2001
Jamaal Tinsley had five assists in the Indiana Pacers' exhibition game against Chicago on Saturday.
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| Oct 14, 2001
The Kings weren't exactly Webber's first choice
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| Oct 14, 2001
Peter Vecsey reports that the Denver Nuggets contemplated dealing Antonio McDyess prior to his knee surgery.
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| Oct 14, 2001
After setting the rotation, the Pacers must see if Harrington and Bender are as good as they hope.
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| Oct 14, 2001
Bender's breakout season may be slow in coming -- if it comes at all.
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| Oct 13, 2001
Isiah Thomas envisions the Indiana Pacers as a team that will pound the ball inside, wear down defenses and reap the benefits of their labor at the free-throw line.
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| Oct 12, 2001
As fans applauded the strong play off the bench by forward Austin Croshere and guard Travis Best, who led all scorers with 20 points apiece, many did so while clutching American flags.
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| Oct 11, 2001
All things considered, Al Harrington would prefer to avoid the uncertainty of restricted free agency.
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| Oct 11, 2001
The team with Indiana on its jersey embarrassed itself in its first exhibition game two nights ago by missing 15 of 35 free throws.
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| Oct 10, 2001
Certainly, I can believe that ESPN.
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| Oct 10, 2001
The game didn't count and nobody got hurt, so the Indiana Pacers couldn't feel too bad about losing their first exhibition game Tuesday, 97-95, to the Atlanta Hawks.
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| Oct 9, 2001
Depending on your perspective, the unit either had no point guards, or it had five.
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| Oct 9, 2001
The Indiana Pacers are willing to pay for such expertise.
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| Oct 8, 2001
There are 12 spots on the active roster, and 13 players in training camp have guaranteed contracts.
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| Oct 8, 2001
In a world suddenly less secure, life will be noticeably different for the Indiana Pacers and their fans this season.
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| Oct 7, 2001
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| Oct 7, 2001
Yesterday we told you that Dennis Rodman was hoping the Pacers would offer him an NBA lifeline, and today the Associated Press is reporting that there simply is no room for the rebounding machine with a troubled background.
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| Oct 6, 2001
So are the Pacers a final destination for Rogers, or just another connecting flight? He signed a one-year, $591,000 contract, but could secure a long-term deal with a strong performance this season.
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| Oct 5, 2001
After getting his weight up above 250 pounds heading into the Goodwill Games last month in Australia, Jermaine O'Neal decided to slim back down.
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| Oct 5, 2001
If life's ultimate trifecta is to be healthy, wealthy and wise, Derrick McKey has been coming up a leg short.
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| Oct 4, 2001
N
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| Oct 4, 2001
"We'll have the luxury now of moving Travis to play some off-guard," Thomas said.
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| Oct 3, 2001
Settling comfortably into the self-prescribed role of ''Uncle Reg,'' Reggie Miller sent two of his nephews into the summer with simple instructions.
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| Oct 3, 2001
Al Harrington spent an entire summer trying to make sure these letters never again appeared beside his name on a box score: DNP-CD.
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| Oct 2, 2001
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