<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. Anthony Johnson doesn't wear a label that says "career backup.'' He carries around a marquee, one with thousands of flashing neon lights. Backup . . . backup . . . backup. In fact, his full legal name is Career Backup Anthony Johnson. You wonder, though, why he can't ever seem to shed that label, even as he's blowing past the man for whom he used to caddie, Jason Kidd, then hitting the two game-winning free throws to ice Indiana's stunning Game 1 victory over the New Jersey Nets. I mean, what's a guy got to do to get some love in this joint? "Last year, I thought I had a career year,'' Johnson said, a bemused smile creasing his face. "The next thing I heard, we'd signed another point guard (Sarunas Jasikevicius), and that was disappointing. At the same time, (team president) Larry (Bird) and (team CEO) Donnie (Walsh) have to do what they believe is in the organization's best interest, regardless of what an individual player might think. "They were straight with me. The way it was explained, they said I'd probably be the third man out, but at the same time, I never back away from a challenge. I felt that given a fair opportunity, I would earn my time on the court.'' Well, the third man out is the last man standing -- again. Jamaal Tinsley is, as always, day-to-day. And Jasikevicius hasn't shown he's got the foot speed to earn bigger minutes. Where would this team be without Johnson? Probably the draft lottery. Seriously. Johnson hasn't just been good; he's been downright invaluable. "This is the most any coach has trusted me,'' Johnson said. "Rick (Carlisle) and I have a pretty good relationship. I think he believes in me and my guys on this team believe in me.'' This, in a nutshell, is the story of Backup Johnson's basketball life. Every season, his employers decide they need to move Johnson and upgrade their backup point guard position. It happened in Sacramento, in Atlanta, in Orlando and Cleveland and New Jersey and now Indiana. And every season, he produces. Somebody mentioned after the game that since Johnson left New Jersey, the Nets have gone through a chorus line of backup point guards, including Jacque Vaughn, Zoran Planinic and Jeff McInnis. He smiled. Johnson is one of those players, maybe you don't appreciate him when you have him, but when he's gone -- and the Pacers did try to move him last summer -- you notice the void. "Sometimes,'' Johnson said, "the grass isn't always greener.'' There's nothing spectacular about Johnson's game. He isn't overwhelmingly athletic. He doesn't have a dazzling array of offensive moves. He isn't a lockdown defender. What he does have, though, is intelligence and fearlessness. And a very large chip on his shoulder, a burning desire to show everybody he's far better than they think he is. In the end, Johnson made the play, and yes, Nets coach Lawrence Frank, it was a foul -- unless it's legal now to grab a player's jersey as he goes to the basket. He wouldn't have gotten that opportunity, though, if the Pacers didn't break with their regular-season form and make some huge plays down the stretch. The team that made losing close games an art form looked downright artful when it mattered. In the fourth quarter, Jermaine O'Neal snapped out of his foul-induced funk and took over, something he's going to need to do consistently in this series. In the final minutes, Jeff Foster crashed the boards and bailed out his teammates, following a missed shot with a putback, then grabbing an offensive board and getting fouled. The Pacers' bench, which figures to be a major factor in a series against a thin Nets team, outscored New Jersey 28-9. That's a statistic that isn't likely to change much in the coming games. Austin Croshere was active, scoring nine points and grabbing five rebounds. And Fred Jones re-emerged from the trainer's room and showed he might give the Pacers an athletic element they didn't figure to have going into this series. Now, before you start doing cartwheels and planning for that second-round series against Miami, here are a few cautionary notes. New Jersey is not going to hit 1-for-15 3-point shots, as it did Sunday afternoon. Vince Carter, who required 33 field-goal attempts to score 31 points, will not spend the whole series missing 2-footers and air-balling 3-pointers. "I had a double negative going,'' he said. "I couldn't hit jumpers or layups . . . Just a bad day of shooting. ''</div> Source
