It's time for some fun

After absorbing a 102-82 smackdown at the hands of the Celtics Saturday night in Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Indiana Pacers yesterday returned to the FleetCenter to conduct not a crime scene investigation but a practice before tonight's Game 2.

The mood, surprisingly, was far from funereal.

The Pacers acknowledged what happened and seemed prepared to move on.

"We got out of our game plan, we were moving too fast and guys were kind of uptight," said Stephen Jackson, who led Indiana in points (25) and turnovers (5). "I think that blowout was a blessing in disguise for us, because guys are relaxed now and I think guys are back to their normal routine. Guys around here are laughing and not so uptight and [not] worried about playing the game. You've got to have some kind of fun in this.

"But I don't think we were having fun [Saturday] night."

Many Boston fans might have wagered large sums the Pacers would have reported for duty yesterday still moping about their opening-night flop.

"C'mon, it's not a life-or-death situation here," said Jermaine O'Neal, who had 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 turnovers in 25 minutes in his fourth game back in the starting lineup after sitting out 22 games with a sprained right shoulder. "It was a very embarrassing situation. We know what we have to do. Nobody's down. Nobody thinks that the series is over with. So we just have to play our game."

The Pacers spent the first part of their day watching the game tape. The verdict? "We did absolutely nothing [Saturday] night, and it showed up on the scoreboard," said O'Neal.

"The best thing about this whole situation? It is a seven-game series," O'Neal added. "I get another opportunity to go out, along with my teammates, and play a better game. I'm not saying I'm going to score 50 points in the game. All I'm saying is that my performance is going to be a lot better. My leadership on the court is going to be a lot better."

After taking a 20-18 lead after the first quarter, the Pacers were blitzed in the second quarter, 39-11. Indiana unraveled in that period, hitting 3 of 15 shots, committing 10 turnovers (22 overall for 27 points), and picking up two technical fouls.

"I want to give the Celtics all the credit, because they did everything right from the second quarter on and we did everything wrong," said Reggie Miller, the Pacers' 39-year-old guard who was held to 7 points on 1-for-7 shooting. "So you've always got to give the favor to them."

Actually, kudos should have gone to Boston's explosive second unit, which gave the Celtics a huge lift with a 23-4 run. It erased a 2-point Boston deficit and turned it into a 41-24 advantage en route to a whopping 57-31 halftime bulge.

"It just seemed like I got on the bench and looked down and looked up and we were down 37," Jackson said. "It was just unbelievable. For a team to go up 20 that fast, I've never seen anything like that in the playoffs. They just turned it on real quick. I think their guys off the bench came in and played real big for them."

The Pacers have never won an NBA playoff series in which they've dropped Game 1, going 0-13 all-time.

"When you get down like that in anyone's arena on the road in the playoffs, it's going to be hard to come back," Jackson said. "We can't dig a hole like that because we don't have the luxury to dig ourselves out of a hole like that. We've got to play from the jump."