Weren’t things supposed to be better by now? That’s what the Indiana Pacers, still mired at 23-25, must be wondering.

Other than the banished Ron Artest, all the key pieces from last season’s top seed in the East Conference are back in place. Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Jackson have returned from their suspensions after the infamous brawl in Detroit, and Reggie Miller, Jeff Foster, and Anthony Johnson have returned from lengthy stints on the injured list.

Yet Indiana continues to flounder. In fact, if the season ended today, the team would barely scrape into the playoffs, a situation that seemed unlikely even after the suspensions were announced. But the Pacers haven’t played any better since they got the big guns back, including a six-game losing streak in January when only two of their tormentors had winning records.

Having written two recent columns about the deceptiveness of win-loss records, I should point out that Indiana’s 23-25 mark is the naked truth. The Pacers simply haven’t been very good. And O’Neal’s return hasn’t made them any better.

The Pacers were 12-12 when their All-Star returned to action in late December, and they figured to be in good position to climb up the Eastern Conference standings. But they’ve gone just 11-13 since, despite a stretch of schedule that wasn’t terribly demanding.

Part of the reason is a seemingly endless torrent of injuries. After Miller, Johnson, and Foster came back, others began dropping like flies. Scot Pollard’s back problems have sidelined him for all but 19 games; Jonathan Bender’s achy knee has nullified what was billed as a breakout season; and Jamaal Tinsley’s hamstrings continue to give him trouble. The only Pacer that’s been available for every game is reserve forward James Jones, and he’s the one guy the team wouldn’t mind missing a few.

Tinsley’s absence has undoubtedly hurt the most. Remember, it was Tins ley’s bad wheel that sunk the Pacers in the conference finals against Detroit last season, and that trend has continued this year. When Tinsley plays at least 10 minutes, the Pacers are a respectable 20-16. When he doesn’t, they’re 3-9, and two of the wins were against Charlotte and Atlanta.

Tinsley is one of the most underrated guards in the game thanks to an improved outside shot that has helped him nearly double his scoring average to 16.6 per game. He’s also a vastly underrated defender. At 6-foot-3 with remarkably quick feet, he can cut off the penetration of opposing point guards. Besides O’Neal, he’s the best player on the team.

Tinsley’s absence wouldn’t be so daunting, but the Pacers’ backup point guards are the weak link on what otherwise is an exceptionally deep team. Local hoops fans know Anthony Johnson well from his two-year stint as Jason Kidd’s caddy in New Jersey, and nothing’s changed.

AJ still isn’t ready for prime-time duty: He’s a dependable 10-minute guy who won’t screw up, but rarely puts pressure on the opposing defense He’s backed up by another Nets castoff, Eddie Gill (he played eight forgettable games for Jersey in 2000-01), who apparently got lost on the way to his next CBA gig and end ed up in Indianapolis.

Not surprisingly, both have played poorly. Despite Johnson’s nationally televised 7-for-7 night against Dallas last week, he’s mostly been shooting blanks. He’s making just 39% of his shots from the field while stinking it up at 24% on 3-pointers. Gill has shot worse (37%) and he’s been far too turnover-prone for somebody so offensively listless. His average of 3.1 assists per 40 minutes is horrific for a point guard – even brutes like Kenyon Martin and Carlos Boozer average more.

Looking at the guards’ Player Efficiency Rating (PER) – my tool for measuring a player’s per-minute statistical production on the season – bears this out. Tinsley is at 19.05, well above the league average of 15.00 and on par with stars like Steve Francis and Chauncey Billups. Meanwhile, Johnson (9.76) and Gill (8.96) are among the league’s worst performers at the point.

Tinsley is set to return this week, but don’t expect it to be a panacea. While the Pacers have played better with Tinsley, that doesn’t mean they’ve played well. Since the suspensions, the Pacers are just 8-9 even when O’Neal and Tinsley both play. There’s something deeper going on.

That’s where Jackson comes in. His 25-game suspension ended a week ago, and with him back in the lineup the Pacers have won three of their last four – their first three Tinsley-less wins of the season.

Jackson is important to the Pacers because he supplies two advantages they’ve missed since Artest was banished – a third scorer to complement O’Neal and Tinsley, and a tough guy on the wings who isn’t afraid to mix it up with bigger small forwards.

Indiana’s previous alignment rotated three players – Fred Jones, Reggie Miller, and James Jones – among the two perimeter spots, but Fred Jones is too small to play small forward and Miller is too frail. Thus, James Jones has played far too many minutes, as shown by his pedestrian numbers (36.6% shooting, 9.69 PER in over 800 minutes).

When Jones the Younger was found wanting, the Pacers made the even worse decision of bringing in veteran retread Michael Curry, who was offensively incapable even in his “good” years and now looks about 20 pounds overweight. Needless to say, he hasn’t exactly been a spark plug, managing just 13 baskets in 249 minutes on the court.

Once Tinsley rejoins Jackson in the lineup, the Pacers will be back to the point where they don’t have to give major chunks of playing time to the scrubs. It’s odd for a team so deep to have their bench cause such problems, but point guard and small forward are the two positions where the Pacers can least afford an injury,and they got hammered at both spots.

Seen in that light, Indiana’s disappointing season is less of a shock. It does point out, though, how much less margin for error they have with Artest gone. One key injury can send this team into a tailspin that was unthinkable a year ago. The good news is that all the parts are finally in place, and there’s still half a season to play. I have a feeling it will be much better than the first 48 games for the Pacers.