Identity crisis? Pacers hope not. (NBA Insider).(basketball team Indiana Pacers)(Brief Article)

Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal sat in front of his locker, his legs sprawled in front of him, his bottom lip swollen and bloodied. He had caught an elbow in the paint in his team's grinding overtime win over the Warriors, though he was not quite sure whose elbow it was.

"Doesn't matter," O'Neal says. "It was rough out there, but I would rather have a bloody lip and a win than no bloody lip and a loss."

This is the new face of the Pacers, one that is worn out and possibly bleeding by game's end. The effects of the blockbuster trade that sent Brad Miller, Ron Artest, Kevin Ollie and Ron Mercer to Indiana for Pacers star Jalen Rose, backup point guard Travis Best and rookie Norm Richardson are just starting to be felt. Indiana is playing a dangerous game while thrashing about in the six-team heap fighting for the East's last four playoff spots, but it's one coach Isiah Thomas thinks is worth trying.

For years, the team has been defined by offensive grace, the sweet shooting of players such as Rik Smits and Reggie Miller. On the heels of one trade, Indiana is in the process of turning that style on its head and becoming a tough, defense-first bunch.

The win over Golden State was a good example--the Pacers shot 32.9 percent from the field but held the Warriors to 35.3 percent. "We want to rest on our defense," Thomas says. "When we don't have a good offensive game going, ...