Pack Attack Paying Off For Nets

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John Calipari is the first to admit the New Jersey Nets paid too much money to sign Robert Pack as a free agent.

Three million dollars a year for someone who missed major chunks of the past two seasons was a gamble.

However, the Nets needed a point guard after Chris Childs signed with the Knicks as a free agent and Pack has shown to ability to produce and play an up-tempo game when healthy.

On Saturday he showed signs the Nets may have spent their money well as he an NBA season-high 22 assists in leading the Nets and their new three-guard offense to a 114-91 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

“I’m not totally satisfied,” said Pack, who also had 17 points and five steals in 39 minutes “I feel I can still do better, but this is something to build on.”

The big change for Pack and the Nets was Calipari’s decision last weekend to play small. He moved Kendall Gill from shooting guard to small forward, switched rookie Kerry Kittles to the No. 2 guard and reinserted Pack in the lineup at the point.

The result has been a quicker team with Pack running the show. So far, New Jersey is 2-1 with the new lineup.

“We played the way I like tonight,” Pack said after beating his previous assist high of 19 with Denver in 1994. “We pushed the ball up the court and ran very few plays. I just told them to get open and I’ll find you.”

Ellis knows shooting

Dale Ellis of the Denver Nuggets is the reigning NBA player of the week for cracking the 30-point barrier three times in four games, including a 36-point scorching of the Boston Celtics. He also is 36 and therefore qualified to give an insight as to why scoring has dropped around the league.

“The art of shooting has been lost,” Ellis said. “Guys are more focused on flair and showmanship. They just want to get to the basket and dunk, dribble between the legs, make fantastic passes.

“Somewhere along the way, you’ve lost the pure point guard, also. You have point guards nowadays who want to come down, take a guy one-on-one and get his shot off, instead of instinctively getting his teammates involved in the game.”

O’Neal’s bricks give Rockets win

Charles Barkley’s 3-point shot with 55.6 seconds remaining gave Houston its first lead of the second half, and the Rockets went on to beat the host Los Angeles Lakers 90-85 to avenge their only loss of the season.

The Rockets were aided by Shaquille O’Neal’s poor free throw shooting. O’Neal had 23 points and 11 rebounds, but was just 3-of-11 from the foul line and missed all four of his attempts in the final 1:13.

Alonzo Mourning scored 20 points and Dan Majerle made a crucial 3-pointer with 7.6 seconds left as visiting Miami kept Phoenix the NBA’s only winless team with an 87-84 victory.

Veteran guard Kevin Johnson, sidelined since undergoing hernia surgery Sept. 26, was activated by the Suns. The Suns placed veteran forward Wayman Tisdale on the injured list.