INDIANAPOLIS (AP)-The Indiana Pacers just can’t seem to stay healthy.

Jermaine O’Neal is still bothered by a shoulder sprain. Jamaal Tinsley is sidelined with a bruised foot. And now Stephen Jackson is smarting.

Jackson, Indiana’s top scorer against the Celtics, twisted a knee as Indiana tied the best-of-seven series with an 82-79 victory in Game 2 and isn’t sure how effective he could be in Game 3 on Thursday night.

“This is my first day trying to run. I couldn’t really do anything, but I’m going to push myself to play,” Jackson said after practice Wednesday. “But this is part of the game. If you’re able to play with the injuries, then do it.”

Jackson, averaging 22.5 points in the two games, hyperextended his left knee when he came down awkwardly after a dunk in Monday night’s 82-79 win at Boston, a victory that evened the best-of-seven series at one game apiece. He had an MRI, which showed no structural damage to the knee, so he plans to play on Thursday and, if he can, in Game 4 on Saturday night.

“It’s going to be treated symptomatically, and he’s going to have some pain because there’s some irritation there,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He really didn’t do anything in practice today, including walk-through stuff, so it’s going to be a day-to-day deal.”

The Celtics, who won the first game by 20 points, plan to keep pushing the ball up the court to force Indiana into a faster tempo.

“We’re a running team. They’re not,” Boston’s Gary Payton said. “If we run the basketball, that’s an advantage for us.”

It’s also been the Celtics’ game plan to double-team O’Neal, who missed 22 games late in the regular season with a sprained right shoulder and has averaged 10 points on 33 percent shooting in the playoffs, far below his season average of 24.3 points a game. But that’s also given Reggie Miller and Anthony Johnson more opportunities to shoot.

“I’m under tough circumstances right now and I have to find a way to be a good decoy,” O’Neal said. “If they’re going to put two guys on me, I’ve got to find the open guys and make sure those guys get the ball. If I’m in the paint, I’ve got to block shots, rebound, be a presence. That’s how I see myself in this series.”

Miller, held to seven points in the series opener, scored 28 points in Monday night’s game.

“You just keep chasing him,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said of the 39-year-old Miller, who plans to retire at the end of the playoffs.

“You hope the officials don’t keep falling for the flops, the grabs, the holds, the kicks. Reggie’s a good player, but it’s amazing what he gets away with,” Rivers said. “That’s a concern for us. He’s on a farewell tour and you’re worried about the sympathy calls. “

It wasn’t sympathy, just a patented Miller move, that got Indiana the clinching basket in the final seconds Monday night. He saw Ricky Davis come at him, so he pulled up short, dribbled past him and put up a shot on the run to give the Pacers their final points.

“He did what he’s supposed to. He’s a shooter. You get wide open looks like that, that’s what he’s going to do,” Payton said.

Carlisle said with all the injuries, the Pacers need to generate easy baskets.

“The other night, we had 16 fast-break points. A lot of them were early, in transition. We still have to look for those opportunities,” he said. “The tempo’s important, but we must still look for opportunities to be aggressive as long as we play with the right kind of efficiency.”

O’Neal said Indiana’s defense will determine the winner.

“If we score 82 and they score 81, we win,” he said. “Defense is where we’ve got to rest our hats. We just can’t get into an open-court scorefest, because we’re not that type of team. We don’t have that weapon now because guys are banged up.”

AP-ES-04-27-05 1720EDT