But former Marquette University guard and Fond du Lac native Travis Diener was on the inactive list for the fifth straight game due to a sore left foot.

Ford was part of a franchise-shaking trade during the off-season, when he was obtained from Toronto along with center Rasho Nesterovic, forward Maceo Baston and the rights to rookie center Roy Hibbert, in exchange for power forward Jermaine O'Neal and the rights to draft pick Nathan Jawai.

"He's a very good guy to have on our Basketball team, and he really creates a nice tempo," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "He's a very unselfish player.

"He's learning the balance between dribbling and attacking, and passing and moving. All of our players have to pass and move, no matter what position they play. He's the quarterback of our team, along with Jarrett Jack and Travis, when he's healthy."

Ford's effectiveness has been hampered somewhat by the absence of three-point shooter Mike Dunleavy, who has not played yet this season due to a sore right knee.

But the 6-foot guard recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists in the Pacers' 114-110 loss at Detroit on Friday night, and he wasn't far from a triple-double with seven rebounds as well.

Entering Saturday's game, he had 55 assists and 19 turnovers for an assist/turnover ratio of 2.89 to 1.

"In his college career and his pro career, he's had the ball in his hands all the time," O'Brien said. "That can work against you. If we were surrounding him with four great shooters, he could really be more effective with the dribble.

"But now if you don't have those shooters on the court, they're all loaded to the lane and the dribbling becomes less effective than the pass and the movement."

Diener had off-season surgery to remove a bone spur under his left big toe. He has appeared in only eight games this season and averaged 2.4 points.

The injury has proved to be a serious setback after he played in 66 games with the Pacers last season, including 21 starts, and averaged 6.9 points. In his last 44 appearances, he averaged 5.1 assists.

"He just hasn't been able to get rid of the pain in that area of the foot," O'Brien said. "It's preventing him from practicing. When he does practice, he's limited.

"The last couple days I couldn't have him in either (practices or games). We miss having a guy who had a 5-to-1 assist/turnover ratio last year. He's also our best shooting point guard. We miss the ability to space the court."

Firing squad: Philadelphia 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks became the fifth NBA coach to be fired before Christmas, when he was axed Saturday morning.

Assistant general manager Tony DiLeo was named to replace Cheeks on an interim basis.

Bucks coach Scott Skiles knows the feeling, after being fired Dec. 24 last year by the Chicago Bulls.

"It's kind of embarrassing," Skiles said. "I coached in Europe about 11 years ago, and they would fire guys after three games sometimes. You just look unstable and chaotic, as far as I'm concerned. It's definitely not good for my profession, but I don't see it as being a good thing for the league in general."

Already fired this season by NBA teams were: P.J. Carlesimo with Oklahoma City, Eddie Jordan with Washington, Randy Wittman with Minnesota and Sam Mitchell with Toronto.

Croshere faces former mates: Bucks forward Austin Croshere played the first nine years of his 11-year career with the Pacers.

The 6-10 Croshere faced his former teammates Saturday and got a look off the bench in the first half.

"I'm not afraid to put him in a game," Skiles said. "We've got a bit of a logjam up front there. He's a good veteran leader; he's a voice of reason and knows what it takes. He's not afraid to speak up and say things, so he's been valuable."

Croshere played 6 minutes in the second quarter and went 2 for 2 from the field and scored four points.

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