--Here is an excerpt from the NY daily news(Jersey was playing Indiana)
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/story/383460p-325533c.html
No one knows when the Pacers will be whole again. O'Neal will miss another game or two with a bum ankle. Tinsley's return is anyone's guess. They turned down the chance to send Artest to the Clippers for Corey Maggette, owing to the fact that Maggette has a foot problem that could result in season-ending surgery. But after Artest reportedly had a productive two-hour meeting with Clips coach Mike Dunleavy in Los Angeles last week, word filtered back that the Clippers are trying to resuccitate the deal.
"It's not totally dead," said one Eastern Conference VP yesterday.
Whether the Clippers sweeten the deal enough to get Indiana to take an injured Maggette, when they clearly feel burned in never having gotten anything out of the oft-injured Jonathan Bender, we'll see. They could continue to hold out for the Warriors' Ike Diogu, the one young player who really has caught their fancy but who is not being made available by Golden State's Chris Mullin.
In the meantime, the Pacers will keep sneaking up on teams like the Nets who are supposed to be vastly superior. The truth is they're not, as yesterday clearly indicated.
Originally published on January 17, 2006