1997–98 Indiana Pacers season

The 1997–98 Indiana Pacers season was the 22nd season for the Indiana Pacers in the National Basketball Association, and their 31st season as a franchise. The Pacers received the twelfth overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, and selected power forward Austin Croshere out of Providence College. During the off-season, the team hired former Indiana State University, and Boston Celtics All-Star legend Larry Bird as their new head coach, acquired All-Star forward Chris Mullin from the Golden State Warriors, and signed free agent Mark West; Bird and Mullin were once teammates on the "Dream Team" from the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Under Bird and with the addition of Mullin, the Pacers struggled losing five of their first seven games of the regular season, but then played above .500 in winning percentage for the remainder of the season, winning 15 of their next 18 games. The team won 12 of their 14 games in January, posted a seven-game winning streak between January and February, and held the best record in the Eastern Conference at 33–13 before the All-Star break. The Pacers won nine of their final eleven games of the season, which included another seven-game winning streak in April, and returned to the NBA playoffs after a one-year absence, finishing in second place in the Central Division with a 58–24 record, and earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference. It was also the first time since joining the NBA that the Pacers finished with a winning road record above. 500, posting a 26–15 road record during the regular season. Bird was named the NBA Coach of the Year, after leading the Pacers to a 19-game improvement over the previous season. The Pacers had the fifth best team defensive rating in the NBA.

Reggie Miller led the Pacers in scoring averaging 19.5 points per game, led them with 164 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, while Rik Smits averaged 16.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, and Mullin provided the team with 11.3 points per game and 107 three-point field goals. In addition, Dale Davis provided with 8.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and Mark Jackson contributed 8.3 points and 8.7 assists per game. Off the bench, sixth man Antonio Davis averaged 9.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while Jalen Rose contributed 9.4 points per game, Travis Best provided with 6.5 points and 3.4 assists per game, and Derrick McKey contributed 6.3 points per game, but only played 57 games due to a ruptured Achilles tendon.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, Miller and Smits were both selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team, while Bird was selected to coach the Eastern Conference; it was Smits's first and only All-Star appearance. Miller was also booed by the fans at Madison Square Garden during the All-Star introductions, due to the Knicks–Pacers rivalry. In addition, Miller also participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout for the fifth time. Miller and Smits both finished tied in 16th place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Rose finished tied in 13th place in Most Improved Player voting.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1998 NBA playoffs, the Pacers faced off against the 6th–seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that featured All-Star forward Shawn Kemp, three-point specialist Wesley Person, and rookie center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The Pacers won the first two games over the Cavaliers at home at the Market Square Arena, before losing Game 3 on the road, 86–77 at the Gund Arena. The Pacers won Game 4 over the Cavaliers on the road, 80–74 to win the series in four games.

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 7th-seeded New York Knicks, who were led by Allan Houston, Larry Johnson, and sixth man John Starks; All-Star center Patrick Ewing returned from a season-ending wrist injury to play in Game 2. After taking a 2–0 series lead, the Pacers lost Game 3 to the Knicks on the road, 83–76 at Madison Square Garden, but managed to win Game 4 on the road in overtime, 118–107. The Pacers won Game 5 over the Knicks at the Market Square Arena, 99–88 to win the series in five games.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers then faced off against the top–seeded, and 2-time defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls, who won the Central Division title, and were led by the trio of All-Star guard, and Most Valuable Player of the Year, Michael Jordan, All-Star forward Scottie Pippen, and rebound-specialist Dennis Rodman, and were also led by head coach Phil Jackson. The Pacers lost the first two games to the Bulls on the road at the United Center, but managed to win their next two home games, as Miller hit a game-winning three-pointer in Game 4, in which the Pacers defeated the Bulls, 96–94 at the Market Square Arena. After losing Game 5 at the United Center, 106–87, the Pacers won Game 6 over the Bulls at the Market Square Arena, 92–89 to even the series at 3–3. In Game 7 at the United Center, the Pacers held a 72–69 lead with 8:54 left in the game, but lost to the Bulls, 88–83, thus losing in a hard-fought seven-game series. The Bulls would go on to defeat the Utah Jazz in six games in the 1998 NBA Finals for their third consecutive NBA championship, and sixth overall in eight years.

The Pacers finished 21st in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 645,302 at the Market Square Arena during the regular season. Following the season, West signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks, and Haywoode Workman, who missed the entire regular season due to a knee injury, was released to free agency and signed with the Milwaukee Bucks midway through the next season.

A notable highlight of the regular season was the Pacers defeating the visiting Portland Trail Blazers, 124–59 at the Market Square Arena on February 27, 1998, which marked the first time in NBA history that a team scored twice as more points than its opponent. For the season, the team added new pinstripe uniforms with golden yellow side panels, which would remain in use until 2005.