<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Pacers? They've trotted out the same lads in each of the first four games with varying results. They looked clueless in Game 1, gutty in Game 2, terrific in Game 3, and clueless again in Game 4. Coach Rick Carlisle is trying to do the basketball equivalent of getting blood from a stone. That his team is 2-2 with the younger, deeper, healthier, more athletic Celtics is a notable achievement. I mean, is there a worse team in the playoffs than the Pacers? But Carlisle does have one wild card remaining and, after what the Pacers went through in Game 4, it is high time he try to utilize it. Then again, it's not his call. It's that of injured point guard Jamaal Tinsley, who has yet to play in the series. Yes, Tinsley has a sore left foot. But he is on the playoff roster for a reason -- and the playoffs may not last that much longer for the Pacers. Carlisle indicated before the series that Tinsley was a possibility later in the series. Well, it's later in the series -- and Indiana desperately needs someone who can dribble the ball against the Celtics' defensive pressure. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Tinsley on one foot is preferable to Eddie Gill on two. (Gill's teammates were seen waving him off the ball in Game 4 -- and he's supposed to be the one handling it.) Only Tinsley knows how much he hurts, and it is never wise to question a player's decision not to play because of an injury. You'd like to think he'd play if there was any way possible, especially with a hoops boss named Larry Bird, whose bad back once forced him to spend the night in the hospital, in traction, in between playoff games.</div> Source
Of course it'd be a big plus...any depth would be a plus for Indy...but he also gives them someone who knows the system, can pass very well and hit 3s too...He also would give them experience if they play Detroit in the second round...Plus Johnson is more valuable as a backup than as a starter...
