http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/season_recap_040608.html
YEAR IN REVIEW
Pacers Rejoined Elite in Historic 2003-04 Season
By John Clayton | June 8, 2004
It was a season that began with a wave of dramatic change and included
historic accomplishment before its end.
The somewhat serendipitous end of the Pacers’ 2003-04 season came where
it started – at The Palace at Auburn Hills, MI – in a game that sent
the Detroit Pistons on to the NBA Finals and sent the disappointed Pacers
home for the offseason.
But the Pacers can find solace in the fact that their offseason will be
shorter than most anyone thought it would be. Yes, the Pacers were among
the best young teams in the Eastern Conference, but few expected them to
be among the NBA’s elite teams – not yet. After all, Indiana had three
straight first-round playoff exits as it hovered around the .500 mark in
three seasons under former Coach Isiah Thomas.
Then a chain-reaction of events that would eventually lead to a team-record
61 victories began to take place. Larry Bird returned to the Pacers as
Vice President of Basketball Operations in July. Soon thereafter,
starting center Brad Miller proved too expensive to re-sign and was traded
as part of a three-team deal that also sent Ron Mercer to San Antonio and
brought Scot Pollard to Indiana.
In August, Thomas was dismissed as head coach. In Detroit, Rick Carlisle,
a Pacers assistant under Bird and teammate of the Hall-of-Famer in Boston,
had been replaced by Larry Brown, despite two straight appearances in the
Eastern Conference Finals and back-to-back 50-win seasons.
On Sept. 2, just a month before NBA Training Camps opened, Carlisle was
introduced as the new head coach for a new administration unwilling to
settle for potential. Carlisle quickly assembled a staff, which included
San Antonio assistant Mike Brown, and rolled up his sleeves. He smoothed
over some of the players’ hurt feelings surrounding Thomas’ departure
and embarked on a regular-season journey that would prepare the Pacers for
the playoff run that had eluded them for three seasons.
The pieces were already in place for Carlisle, who inherited a youthful
yet veteran team. Jermaine O'Neal eschewed courtships from other teams and
was re-signed to a long-term contract in the summer. Reggie Miller also
inked a deal that will probably take him to the end of his career - one
spent entirely in a Pacers uniform. With no first-round pick, the Pacers
netted guard/forward James Jones from the University of Miami (FL) with
the 39th overall pick in the second round. Anthony Johnson, Jason Kidd's
former understudy in New Jersey, had signed as a free agent. To further
shore up the point guard position, veteran Kenny Anderson was signed soon
after Carlisle's arrival.
With that flurry of offseason activity behind them, the Pacers' season
started in Detroit, even as the Pistons raised their Central Division
Championship banner to the rafters at The Palace with their former coach
on the opposing bench, with an 89-87 victory. A horrid 93-79 loss to
Milwaukee in the home opener on Halloween night was followed by five
straight victories. Another home loss, 78-76 to rival Boston on Nov. 11,
was followed by an eight-game winning streak, and the Pacers were on their
way to surprising the league and reaching new heights for the franchise.
During that regular season-high eight-game streak, Miller added one more
chapter to his legend at Madison Square Garden, scoring 31 points and
propelling the Pacers to a 95-94 victory over the Knicks. It wasn’t
retro night at the famed Garden, but it certainly seemed that way for the
38-year-old Miller, who is not the consistent offensive force he once was.
“When he’s old and in a wheelchair, they’re going to roll him out onto
the Garden court and he’s still going to hit threes,” film director and
long-time Miller antagonist Spike Lee told the New York Times after
Miller’s throwback outburst.
During the early season, Jeff Foster also emerged as the starter at center
in place of Pollard, who never appeared comfortable in Carlisle’s system.
A tenacious rebounder and defender, Foster became the perfect complement
for All-Star Jermaine O’Neal on the low post.
Anderson, who signed as a free agent in the offseason, also became the
starting point guard over incumbent Jamaal Tinsley in the early going.
Anderson and Johnson gave Carlisle the experience and steadiness he wanted
at the position. The sometimes erratic Tinsley, who had started for the
Pacers since his rookie season, found himself the odd-man out as Anderson
and Johnson consumed the minutes at point guard.
But all that would change just before Christmas. In a 79-71 win at Houston
on Dec. 23, Anderson injured his calf muscle as Tinsley recovered from the
flu in Indianapolis. The Pacers dropped two of their next three games with
Johnson moved into the starting lineup. December had been unkind to the
Pacers, who finished the month with a 9-7 record. The team lost more games
than in any other month during the season, but found its starting point
guard – again.
Tinsley took over as the team’s starting point guard in a 92-89 win at
Cleveland on Dec. 30 and would not again relinquish his position.
“I just wanted the opportunity to play,” Tinsley said soon after winning
back his starting position. “I got the opportunity and took advantage of
it, that’s it.” Tinsley, who had come into training camp in the best
shape of his professional career, won Carlisle’s trust and provided an
added dimension to the coach’s schemes with his more aggressive, up-tempo
play. There was also a comfort level among his teammates that helped the
Pacers to a 39-11 record with Tinsley in the lineup.
“His response to the opportunity has been critical to us having a chance
to win,” Carlisle said after the switch. “I’ve loved his approach the
whole time. Even when he was out of the rotation and not injured, he kept
working. He just kept his head in it and was very professional.” While
Tinsley’s re-emergence was vital to the Pacers’ success, the emergence
of a kinder, gentler Ron Artest was also key. Artest made his first NBA
All-Star appearance, joining O’Neal on the Eastern Conference roster,
and was eventually named NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
While Artest’s talent and tenacity had never been questioned, his judgment
and on-court antics, which resulted in 12 game suspensions for flagrant
fouls and other indiscretions in 2002-03, had been a cause for concern.
Artest answered those questions by putting together the best season of
his young career, blending 18.3 points per game (second on the team
behind O’Neal) with his smothering perimeter defense. He became one of
the NBA’s elite performers, and gave the Pacers the scorer they needed
alongside O’Neal.
O’Neal joined a handful of players to average 20 points and 10 rebounds
(20.1 points and 10.0 rebounds). O’Neal joined MVP Kevin Garnett of
Minnesota, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan (the 2003 MVP) and Portland’s Zach
Randolph on that short list of players. He also made his second consecutive
All-Star start and third straight All-Star appearance as his evolution into
one of the NBA’s premier big men continued.
“Factoring in offense and defense, they’re the top forward combo in the
league,” one NBA scout said of O’Neal and Artest in Sports Illustrated.
“Throw in Harrington, who’s becoming a monster and it’s not even close.”
Speaking of Harrington, he led Indiana’s deep bench with 13.3 points and
6.4 rebounds per game. Harrington put aside his deep desire to become a
starter to fill the role of sixth man with aplomb. Though he started only
15 games, he usually played starter’s minutes, averaging 30.9 minutes per
game off the bench.
“The best way to describe it would be to say that I’ve embraced this
opportunity I have right now,” said Harrington, who finished second in
NBA Sixth Man of the Year balloting.
While Harrington continued to progress, second-year guard Fred Jones began
to flash the athleticism and big-play ability that enamored the Pacers prior
to the 2002 NBA Draft. Like Artest, Jones made his NBA All-Star debut –
in the Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk Challenge.
Going against two-time defending Slam Dunk Champion Jason Richardson of
Golden State, the 6-3 Jones wowed the STAPLES Center crowd with his
leaping ability and powerful dunks and dethroned Richardson.
Jones appeared in 81 games for the Pacers, averaging 4.9 points per game,
while joining Artest as one of the team’s top two perimeter defenders.
Until the Slam Dunk contest, however, Jones’ brief NBA career had been
devoid of the spotlight. Afterward, Jones seemed to embrace it. He started
to look for his shot more often. He also continued to work on his jumpshot
and by season’s end, teams that left him to shoot long- and mid-range
jumpers were made to pay.
“(The Slam Dunk Contest) game me a little confidence, being on stage
with everybody watching and you can showcase your talent,” he said soon
after the All-Star break. “But basketball is a different game than being
out there just dunking. I’ve always had confidence, but these last few
games have boosted it a little more.”
Austin Croshere, frustrated by a lack of playing time over the past two
seasons, also took a more prominent role from the bench, appearing in 77
games and scoring in double figures 16 times. His 56 3-pointers were his
most since he hit a career-high 70 in 2000-01.
The Pacers had hoped to see Jonathan Bender finally emerge as a
difference-maker. The supremely talented Bender, though, was limited
by injuries after undergoing offseason knee surgery. Three separate stints
on the injured list dominated his season. Bender was active for only 21
games in the regular season, but averaged 7.0 points in just 12.9 minutes
per game, numbers that possibly serve as a tease of things to come.
The collapse that came after the 2003 All-Star break never came for the
Pacers, who steamrolled through the remainder of the 2003-04 season with
a force similar to the early stages of the season. After a disappointing
89-75 loss at home to New Orleans on Feb. 17, the Pacers reached the
40-win plateau with a 96-87 victory at Washington.
Four days later, O’Neal scored a season-high 34 points on 14 of 24
shooting in a win over Golden State, and Indiana appeared to be peaking
with the playoffs now within sight.
The Pacers rolled into March with six straight wins – four of which
came on a four-game road trip through the Western Conference. Indiana
defeated Golden State, the Los Angeles Clippers, Utah and Denver on the
trip and returned home with a 48-16 record. If there were any vocal
skeptics left, that trip through the West silenced them. The Pacers would
go on to finish with the league’s best road record (27-14).
They would garner their most decisive win of the season, 111-78 over
Milwaukee, a 33-point victory, at Conseco Fieldhouse on March 31. But
an 80-71 home win over Portland would give Carlisle the first of several
milestones as the regular season wound to a close. The Pacers were 50-17
and Carlisle became the first coach since Pat Riley (Lakers) to win 50
or more games and divisional titles in each of his first three seasons
as a head coach.
Then the chase for 60 victories was on.
No Pacers team had won more than 58 games in a season – not for Bob
“Slick” Leonard. Not for Larry Brown. Not for Bird, whose 1998 team
set the franchise record for wins in a season at 58.
The Pacers wobbled, losing consecutive games to Sacramento and Memphis
before going 11-2 down the stretch to reach 61. The Pacers reached win
No. 58 with a 94-90 victory at Toronto on April 7, which was the second
game in a five-game winning streak that ended the regular season. No.
59 came at home over New Jersey (90-80). Indiana completed the regular
season with No. 60 at Philadelphia (107-93) and No. 61 at home against
Chicago (101-96). Though 61 wins may have been well out of the realm of
expectation for even Carlisle, he believed from the beginning of his
late start with the team that the Pacers had a chance to be an exceptional
basketball team.
“I knew we had a chance to be very good, if we committed to certain
things – if we committed the defensive end, if we committed to sharing
the ball, and if we committed to winning,” said Carlisle. “And the team
did that, so I guess I’m never surprised at what can happen when you have
a group that commits to those things."
That commitment also resulted in the top seed in the Eastern Conference
and a Central Division title for the Pacers, who rolled into the
postseason with a muscle-flexing four-game sweep of Boston in the opening
round.
The Miami Heat, a team the Pacers had dominated in the regular season,
was next, but there was little resemblance between the much-improved Heat
and the team Indiana had met during the regular season. Rookie point guard
Dwyane Wade established himself as a prime-time player, leading Miami with
18.0 points per game in the playoffs. The athletic, attacking Heat
stretched the Pacers for six tough games before bowing out of the playoffs
with a 73-70 loss in Game 6.
That Game-6 victory propelled the Pacers back to the Eastern Conference
Finals for the sixth time in 10 years - this time against Carlisle's
former Pistons and Larry Brown, the coach who guided the Pacers to their
first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 1994.
The series was emotionally charged from the outset. Miller wrote one more
chapter in his book of incredible playoff moments with a game-winning
3-pointer with 31 seconts to play in Game 1. Miller's trey, his only
basket in the game, lifted the Pacers to a 78-74 victory and a 1-0 series
lead and elicited a much-ballyhooed guarantee of a Pistons victory in
Game 2 from Detroit forward Rasheed Wallace. Wallace emphatically made
the guarantee immediately after Game 1 and didn't back away from it the
next day.
Tayshaun Prince blocks Miller's potential game-tying layup to preserve
Detroit's victory in Game 2 of the conference finals. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE/
Getty Images)
Tayshaun Prince helped make Wallace's word good with what was possibly
the game-saving block on a breakaway layup by Miller that preserved a
69-67 Pistons lead in the game's final minute. Miller finished with a
team-high 21 points, but will be remembered in Game 2 for the layup he
didn't make. Prince's block was one of 19 for the Pistons as the two
teams combined for 26 blocked shots.
Game 2 was emblematic of the offensive struggles the Pacers went through
against the Pistons. In Game 2, the Pacers were 22 of 80 (27.5 percent)
from the field. O'Neal was held scoreless in the second half. Still,
after the disappointment in Game 2 on their home floor, the Pacers
rebounded to reclaim home court with a resounding 83-68 win in Game 4
that was by far Indiana's best performance of the postseason. That
performance, however, was not to be replicated. Detroit returned to
Conseco Fieldhouse and took a 3-2 series lead with an 83-68 win in
Game 5 sparked by Richard Hamilton's 33-point performance. Indiana arrived
in Detroit determined to force a Game 7, but were unable to hold a
14-point lead built in a heartening first half. A late flagrant foul
on Artest resulted in a four-point swing that proved to be the deciding
margin in the Pacers' 69-65 loss.
In the wake of that loss and their record-setting season, the Pacers
must regroup from the disappointment of finishing just two wins away
from its second trip to the NBA Finals, a fact that makes such a prolific
season seem somewhat lessened in its shadow, but cannot ultimately take
away from all that was accomplished.
“We’re halfway to where we need to be. To win a title and to get a
ring, you’ve got to win four series; we won two,” Carlisle said.
“We were in some ways tantalizingly close in the third series but
just couldn’t overcome certain elements. The other message was all
of us learned a lot during the playoffs, particularly during the Detroit
series, about things we need to do better, both as a team and individually.
That’s why this is going to be a very important summer for us. Guys are
going to need to continue to develop their games and their skills, and
the franchise is going to have some decisions to make on personnel and
possible trades and the draft and other things. The one thing that I
really take as a positive from my experience with this team is, when it
was over two nights ago, there was nobody in that locker room that was
just happy to get to the conference finals. They’re a competitive group
and clearly their eyes are on a bigger prize, and that’s a great sign
for our team and our franchise.”
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