From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
2003–04 Indiana Pacers season
NBA professional basketball team season
NBA professional basketball team season
(lost to Pistons 2–4)
The Pacers got off to a fast start winning 14 of their first 16 games, and finished the season with a record of 61–21, which was worthy of the Eastern Conference first seed in the playoffs, guaranteed home-court advantage throughout the playoffs for the first time since 2000, and a new all-time franchise-best win–loss record. Jermaine O'Neal was named to the All-NBA Second Team, the first Pacer ever to do so, and even finished third in the MVP voting, which was the highest in the voting any Pacers player had ever reached. Ron Artest was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, and also was named Defensive Player of the Year, the first Pacer ever to receive this award. Both O'Neal and Artest were selected for the 2004 NBA All-Star Game, with Carlisle coaching the Eastern Conference. Second-year guard Fred Jones won the Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Pacers swept the 8th-seeded Boston Celtics 4–0. They proceeded to defeat the 4th-seeded Miami Heat 4–2 in the second round, earning the Pacers their sixth spot in the Eastern Conference finals in 11 years. The Pacers fell 2–4 in the Eastern Conference finals to the eventual NBA champions, the 3rd-seeded Detroit Pistons, who were coached by former Pacers coach Larry Brown. Following the season, Al Harrington was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, while Anderson went along with him signing as a free agent with the Hawks.
NBA draft
Main article: 2003 NBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 49 | James Jones | SF | United States | Miami |
Roster
- ()
Regular season
Season standings
Playoffs
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | April 17 | Boston | W 104–88 | O'Neal, Artest (24) | Jermaine O'Neal (11) | Jamaal Tinsley (7) | Conseco Fieldhouse 16,605 | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | April 20 | Boston | W 103–90 | Jermaine O'Neal (22) | Al Harrington (13) | Reggie Miller (7) | Conseco Fieldhouse 17,347 | 2–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | April 23 | @ Boston | W 108–85 | Harrington, Bender (19) | O'Neal, Foster (7) | Ron Artest (5) | FleetCenter 17,680 | 3–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | April 25 | @ Boston | W 90–75 | Ron Artest (22) | Foster, Harrington (7) | Jamaal Tinsley (7) | FleetCenter 16,389
| 4–0 |
|---|
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" |
| 1 |
| May 6 |
| Miami |
| W 94–81 |
| Ron Artest (25) |
| Jeff Foster (10) |
| Jamaal Tinsley (5) |
| Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 18,345 |
| 1–0 |
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" |
| 2 |
| May 8 |
| Miami |
| W 91–80 |
| Ron Artest (20) |
| Harrington, O'Neal (9) |
| Jamaal Tinsley (9) |
| Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 18,345 |
| 2–0 |
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" |
| 3 |
| May 10 |
| @ Miami |
| L 87–94 |
| Jermaine O'Neal (29) |
| Jermaine O'Neal (9) |
| Jamaal Tinsley (5) |
| American Airlines Arena |
| 20,115 |
| 2–1 |
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" |
| 4 |
| May 12 |
| @ Miami |
| L 88–100 |
| Jermaine O'Neal (37) |
| Artest, Tinsley (8) |
| Jamaal Tinsley (5) |
| American Airlines Arena |
| 20,128 |
| 2–2 |
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" |
| 5 |
| May 15 |
| Miami |
| W 94–83 |
| Jermaine O'Neal (22) |
| Jeff Foster (16) |
| Jamaal Tinsley (8) |
| Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 18,345 |
| 3–2 |
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" |
| 6 |
| May 18 |
| @ Miami |
| W 73–70 |
| Ron Artest (27) |
| Jermaine O'Neal (13) |
| Jamaal Tinsley (3) |
| American Airlines Arena |
| 20,136 |
| 4–2 |
| - |
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" |
| 1 |
| May 22 |
| Detroit |
| W 78–74 |
| Jermaine O'Neal (21) |
| Jermaine O'Neal (14) |
| Jamaal Tinsley (5) |
| Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 18,345 |
| 1–0 |
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" |
| 2 |
| May 24 |
| Detroit |
| L 67–72 |
| Reggie Miller (21) |
| Jeff Foster (9) |
| Anthony Johnson (4) |
| Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 18,345 |
| 1–1 |
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" |
| 3 |
| May 26 |
| @ Detroit |
| L 78–85 |
| Jermaine O'Neal (24) |
| Jermaine O'Neal (9) |
| Jamaal Tinsley (4) |
| The Palace of Auburn Hills |
| 22,076 |
| 1–2 |
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" |
| 4 |
| May 28 |
| @ Detroit |
| W 83–68 |
| Ron Artest (20) |
| Jermaine O'Neal (13) |
| Jamaal Tinsley (5) |
| The Palace of Auburn Hills |
| 22,076 |
| 2–2 |
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" |
| 5 |
| May 30 |
| Detroit |
| L 65–83 |
| Artest, Jones (13) |
| Ron Artest (11) |
| Jamaal Tinsley (5) |
| Conseco Fieldhouse |
| 18,345 |
| 2–3 |
| - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" |
| 6 |
| June 1 |
| @ Detroit |
| L 65–69 |
| Jermaine O'Neal (20) |
| Artest, O'Neal (10) |
| Anthony Johnson (7) |
| The Palace of Auburn Hills |
| 22,076 |
| 2–4 |
| - |
Player statistics
Regular season
| Player | POS | GP | GS | MP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | **82** | 79 | 1,961 | 610 | 64 | 71 | 27 | 497 | 23.9 | 7.4 | .8 | .9 | .3 | 6.1 | |
| SG | 81 | 2 | 1,508 | 126 | 173 | 65 | 18 | 397 | 18.6 | 1.6 | 2.1 | .8 | .2 | 4.9 | |
| SG | 80 | **80** | 2,254 | 188 | 249 | 65 | 11 | 800 | 28.2 | 2.4 | 3.1 | .8 | .1 | 10.0 | |
| PF | 79 | 15 | 2,441 | 508 | 131 | 80 | 22 | 1,048 | 30.9 | 6.4 | 1.7 | 1.0 | .3 | 13.3 | |
| PF | 78 | 78 | **2,788** | **778** | 164 | 59 | **199** | **1,566** | 35.7 | **10.0** | 2.1 | .8 | **2.6** | **20.1** | |
| PF | 77 | 0 | 1,051 | 243 | 52 | 24 | 14 | 387 | 13.6 | 3.2 | .7 | .3 | .2 | 5.0 | |
| SF | 73 | 71 | 2,714 | 385 | 272 | **152** | 50 | 1,333 | **37.2** | 5.3 | 3.7 | **2.1** | .7 | 18.3 | |
| PG | 73 | 7 | 1,598 | 130 | 202 | 64 | 8 | 450 | 21.9 | 1.8 | 2.8 | .9 | .1 | 6.2 | |
| C | 61 | 3 | 678 | 164 | 10 | 23 | 26 | 106 | 11.1 | 2.7 | .2 | .4 | .4 | 1.7 | |
| PG | 52 | 43 | 1,378 | 136 | **303** | 84 | 17 | 432 | 26.5 | 2.6 | **5.8** | 1.6 | .3 | 8.3 | |
| PG | 44 | 31 | 905 | 81 | 125 | 26 | 5 | 262 | 20.6 | 1.8 | 2.8 | .6 | .1 | 6.0 | |
| SF | 21 | 0 | 271 | 40 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 148 | 12.9 | 1.9 | .4 | .2 | .5 | 7.0 | |
| C | 18 | 0 | 72 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 4.0 | .8 | .2 | .0 | .2 | 1.6 | |
| PG | 13 | 1 | 160 | 11 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 32 | 12.3 | .8 | 1.3 | .5 | .0 | 2.5 | |
| SF | 6 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4.3 | .3 | .0 | .2 | .0 | 1.2 |
Playoffs
| Player | POS | GP | GS | MP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PF | **16** | **16** | **604** | **146** | 19 | 8 | **36** | **307** | 37.8 | **9.1** | 1.2 | .5 | **2.3** | **19.2** | |
| SG | **16** | **16** | 455 | 37 | 45 | 18 | 3 | 161 | 28.4 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 1.1 | .2 | 10.1 | |
| PG | **16** | **16** | 422 | 46 | **80** | **28** | 3 | 129 | 26.4 | 2.9 | **5.0** | **1.8** | .2 | 8.1 | |
| C | **16** | 13 | 307 | 105 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 58 | 19.2 | 6.6 | .8 | .8 | .3 | 3.6 | |
| PF | **16** | 2 | 427 | 102 | 12 | 23 | 9 | 152 | 26.7 | 6.4 | .8 | 1.4 | .6 | 9.5 | |
| PG | **16** | 0 | 332 | 34 | 34 | 13 | 4 | 73 | 20.8 | 2.1 | 2.1 | .8 | .3 | 4.6 | |
| SF | **16** | 0 | 200 | 28 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 77 | 12.5 | 1.8 | .4 | .1 | .9 | 4.8 | |
| SF | 15 | 15 | 584 | 98 | 48 | 21 | 16 | 276 | **38.9** | 6.5 | 3.2 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 18.4 | |
| SG | 14 | 0 | 263 | 33 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 66 | 18.8 | 2.4 | 1.1 | .5 | .5 | 4.7 | |
| PF | 13 | 2 | 214 | 40 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 63 | 16.5 | 3.1 | .9 | .3 | .2 | 4.8 | |
| PG | 4 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4.8 | .3 | .3 | .3 | .0 | 1.0 | |
| C | 3 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4.3 | 1.3 | .0 | .3 | .0 | .7 |
Transactions
Additions
| **Scot Pollard** | Trade | Sacramento Kings | C |
|---|
Subtractions
| **Erick Strickland** | Signed as free agent | Milwaukee Bucks | PG |
|---|
Awards and records
- Ron Artest – NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, All-NBA Third Team, All-Star Game, NBA All-Defensive First Team
- Rick Carlisle – East All-Star Team Game Head Coach
- Jermaine O'Neal – All-NBA Second Team, All-Star Game
References
References
- [https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/IND/2004.html 2003–04 Indiana Pacers]
- (June 2, 2004). "PRO BASKETBALL; Flagrant Foul Helps Pistons Put Away The Pacers". New York Times.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about 2003–04 Indiana Pacers season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report