Pacers at Heat on TNT

The Pacers will be very short-handed tonight after completing an eight-player deal with Golden State on Wednesday. Indiana dealt the team's second- and third-leading scorers away, and none of the new players will be in uniform for the Pacers on Thursday. Contrary to previous reports, Heat center Shaquille O'Neal will not play tonight and is expected to miss at least two more games as he recovers from his knee injury.

Miami returns home from a successful 4-2 road trip and appears to be playing like the defending NBA champions again. We haven't forgotten what won us the championship - and it wasn't that long ago, Heat center Alonzo Mourning said. So I expect us to get better and stay healthy. I know that as soon as we get our rotation back and everybody back healthy, we're a team to be reckoned with.

>See today's daily free pick.Thursday January 18, 2007