CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Jermaine O'Neal is sorry for his role in the Pistons-Pacers brawl last month, and embarrassed about his part in tarnishing the NBA's image.
Now, he just wants to play basketball. It will be up to a federal judge to decide when the Indiana forward's next game will be.
O'Neal heads to a New York court on Thursday, where a judge will decide if the reduction of his 25-game NBA suspension stands. An arbitrator ruled O'Neal could play after sitting out 15 games, but the NBA challenged the arbitrator's authority.
Given a three-game reprieve, O'Neal made the most of his return by leading the Pacers to back-to-back wins for the first time since December.
He did it with 24 points and 17 rebounds to lead Indiana to a 74-71 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night, hours before his court date. It followed his 16 points and 11 rebounds in a win over New Orleans on Monday.
O'Neal declined to speculate on which way the ruling might go.
``I can say what-if about a whole lot of things,'' O'Neal said. ``Whatever the outcome is, I'll deal with it.''
Although O'Neal broke from his pregame policy of not talking to the media and spoke at length about his suspension and the pending hearing, he seemed weary of the topic afterward.
``I don't want to talk about this anymore,'' he said. ``It's seven weeks old.''
In the three games he's been back, O'Neal has contributed 61 points and 35 rebounds.
Against the Bobcats, he gave Indiana a 69-67 lead on a putback, and with the Pacers clinging to a 72-71 lead, O'Neal stole a pass from Jason Hart that led to Jeff Foster's basket, which pushed their lead to 74-71 with 1:22 to play.
After a series of misses for both teams, Jamaal Tinsley missed for Indiana and the Bobcats grabbed the rebound with the clock winding down. They raced up the court needing a 3-pointer to go into overtime, but O'Neal got a piece of Hart's shot at the buzzer.
``He played great,'' Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. ``He made two huge plays down the stretch ... great players make big-time plays when it counts.''
It's clear the Pacers need O'Neal in the lineup, which is why he said before the game that his biggest worry right now is the disruption a return to the suspended list will have on Indiana.
``We're trying to take a step forward, trying to put some things together with this team,'' he said. ``I will be disappointed, but we'll go forward.''
Carlisle praised O'Neal for the way he has handled himself during the suspension, and for staying in shape while he was away from the team.
``He's dealt with it with unbelievable dignity and integrity, it hurt him very deeply,'' Carlisle said. ``It's been tough for him, but he's dealt with it with real class.''
For O'Neal, the toughest part of the brawl and suspension was explaining it all to his 5-year-old daughter, Asjia. She attends all the home games, then didn't understand when she saw Daddy watching a Pacers game on TV. When she asked him if he was watching a tape, he had to tell her what was going on.
``I told her `Daddy was involved in a situation nobody should be involved in,''' O'Neal said. ``The worst thing you want to do is change the way a child looks at you. My daughter looks up to me as a dad, and as a player. There's millions of other kids who look up to me the same way.
``I feel terrible I was involved in it. I want to be a guy that people say `Not only is he a great player, he's a great person.''