Miller Will Likely Miss First Two Playoff Rounds Because Of Eye Surgery

The Indiana Pacers have four regular-season games to get ready for playing as many as two rounds of the NBA playoffs without Reggie Miller.

Doctors for Miller said he is progressing well a day after having surgery to reconstruct part of his right eye socket.

Ophthalmologist John Abrams said Miller was suffering from double vision, which could take up to two months to completely clear. Miller is expected to be out for up to three weeks, including the start of the playoffs.

Butch Beard virtually assured his own firing as New Jersey Nets coach by criticizing his players and management with just a week left in the season, the team president said.

Michael Rowe said he was stunned by Beard’s comments during the weekend that he was coaching a team of “secondline” players and that his ability to motivate the club was hurt by management’s refusal in February to say he would return for a third season.

Money isn’t the motivation in Donald Carter’s decision to sell the Mavericks, sources close to negotiations said, a fact that supports the likelihood a group led by Ross Perot Jr. will buy the Dallas club.

Carter is scheduled to meet today with representatives from the Perot group and Stars owner Thomas Hicks, two bidders for the basketball franchise. One source said Hicks’ bid might be $10 million.

The source said Carter prefers Perot because his interest in the Mavericks arose three weeks before Hicks’.

New York Knicks forward Charles Oakley will miss the final week of the regular season and may be forced to wear a protective mask during the playoffs for a fractured bone below the right eye.

Phoenix Suns center Joe Kleine was released from Centinela Hospital Medical Center after spending the night for observation.