"You stupid fat boy," the Pacers guard said to the television, where Barkley was doing studio commentary. "What were you doing during rehab? Did you watch any games?"

Some might see the Pacers' 88-85 victory over Milwaukee in Game 1 of their playoff series this way: the top seed in the Eastern Conference blew a 13-point lead and limped to the wire against the bottom seed. It was the old guys struggling not weeks into the playoffs but on day one.

The Pacers, however, see themselves differently. They see a battle-tested team not only having won but having won in a way that bodes well for the future.

"I like the look that's in these guys' eyes," guard Reggie Miller said. "I've never seen it before. The confidence level is so high. We're getting contributions from a lot of different people."

When he was speaking to a crowd of reporters, not the television, Jackson made the point in another way.

"Sure, they made their runs and tightened the game up, but we never buckled," Jackson said.

Nobody helped strengthen the Pacers more than Dale Davis, who had 17 rebounds, 12 points and four blocked shots. One of the blocked shots came at a critical moment, with 1:33 remaining and the Pacers ahead 83-82. On the other end, Travis Best hit a jumper.

Indiana coach Larry Bird called it the best game he's ever seen Davis play. The television announcer referred to Davis as a "young man," but he's 31, an eight-year veteran of the league. In the waning weeks of the regular season, he struggled with leg cramps, a pulled hamstring and a groin injury.

Davis is among the few people who are happy that Game 2 isn't until Thursday. The Bucks even flew home after Sunday's game.

This is an All-Star trying to regain his form, and his teammates would not let Davis forget that the matchup Sunday against Glenn Robinson of the Bucks presented him with a big opportunity.

"He's a 6-11 power forward," Pacers guard Jalen Rose said. "He made the All-Star game. Glenn Robinson's a 'three' guy, not a 'four.' Therefore, we thought he had the advantage rebounding."

Miller, naturally, made sure to get in his analysis of the situation.

"I was just telling him he wasn't in San Francisco (for the All-Star Game) for nothing," Miller said. "He had to be aggressive on both ends of the floor. There was no way Glenn was going to keep him off the glass. He did a great job of keeping the ball alive. Physically, he carried us. That's the Dale who played before the injury, before the All-Star Game. That's what we're going to need if we're going to be successful."

Davis, however, wasn't about to single out Robinson in his postgame comments.

"My thing with these guys is their style of play," Davis said of the Bucks. "They do a lot of trapping and double-teaming. If they're going to do that, you have to make them pay on the boards."

The Pacers' Travis Best (top) grapples for the ball on the floor with Scott Williams.(AP)

The dependable scorers, Miller and Rose, played their roles. Despite a poor shooting night that included an extremely rare trip to the free throw line where he missed two in a row, Miller finished with 21 points. Rose had 26, hitting all three of his three-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Down the stretch, though, Best provided the lift. With 1:20 left and then with 47 seconds left, Best hit consecutive jumpers, putting the Pacers ahead by three both times. Like Davis, he needed some encouragement.

"He's got to take those," Bird said. "He can't hesitate. They were putting pressure on us low and fronting the post. If he gets an open shot, he has to take it. That's Travis' game. I thought he hesitated a lot in the first half. But he's got to score for us.

Best had a large bandage on his forehead that covered five stitches he needed to close a cut over an eye. He just shrugged. It's the playoffs. A message on the locker room board made sure everyone knew how many victories were left for an NBA title.

"Win Baby!!" it said. "14 mo."