By C. JEMAL HORTON
The Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS - Usually, this is Reggie Time. For the past decade or so, when the Indiana Pacers reached the playoffs, they've known they had one man who would take over games and give them a real chance to dream.

Usually, that was Reggie Miller.

Well, Reggie's too old now. Somebody else, one of this team's many prodigies, has to do it.

With Indiana facing Boston in the playoffs starting Saturday, and the 37-year-old Miller still in pain after a hard fall three days ago, the Pacers had better find a replacement superhero. At worst, they need a Robin-like sidekick available at tough moments.

Confusingly, the Pacers don't feel that need.

"It's about us playing together and getting the job done," All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal said. "It's not about me scoring 30 a game and winning the series for us.

"We have to do this together. We have to have everyone going. That's the most important key to winning this series."

That's the perfect way to go, in theory. But it's extremely naive, too.

This team, talented as it is, isn't capable of having every important player performing at or even near his best. Not at this point. Not when the Pacers admittedly have lost that special element - whatever it is - that made the first half of this season downright enchanting.

Consider: All-Star Brad Miller (foot) sat out the final two games of the regular season. Plus, key reserve Erick Strickland (foot) spent the final three games on the injured list. Plus, Miller's sore body. Plus still-learning, still-healing Jonathan Bender, who played in just 46 games. Plus, still-shaky Jamaal Tinsley.

If the Pacers don't find one man they can count on for the playoffs, they're going home for the summer after one series. Sure, even with the aforementioned issues for Indiana, the Pacers are better than Boston. But those issues, coupled with Indiana boldly expecting team wholeness for the playoffs, makes the gap much narrower.

Boston won't be concerned if Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker are the only reasons it makes the second round.

O'Neal is the obvious star for Indiana, based on his unstoppable post-up scoring, interior passing and improved jump shot. He should dominate this series.

"This is playoff time," O'Neal said. "This is really serious."

He pauses.

"But I don't think one man can do it by himself."

Well, one man can come really close, like Reggie did in Game 7 last year against the New Jersey Nets - or almost any Pacers playoff game.

Thing is, that leading man doesn't have to be a standout. He just has to be someone who will hit the important shot, someone who will want to go to the foul line when the game is close and near its end, someone who simply makes plays all night.

Robert Horry has done that for the Lakers in recent championship runs. Sam Cassell did it for the Houston Rockets in Michael Jordan's first two retirement years. Throughout this league's history, a good just-in-case guy has been directly related to long postseason runs.

The last completely balanced championship teams the NBA has seen probably were those Boston teams of the 1960s, which had about a jillion Hall of Famers on the roster.

"We really don't have a go-to guy," Pacers coach Isiah Thomas said. "I think that's something that's easy to write about and easy to talk about. But we'd rather have a well-rounded team."

That worked perfectly early in the season. But in the playoffs, the Pacers can't sit back and expect every player to get his game going.

Is it too arrogant of an approach? No. Too simplistic? Nah.

But if the Pacers use it, it definitely will make this too short of a season.

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C. Jemal Horton is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. Contact him at 1-317-444-6514 or via e-mail at Jemal.Horton@indystar.com