2004–05 Indiana Pacers season

NBA professional basketball team season March 2026 August 2023 Indiana Pacers 2005 44 38 central 3 6 Rick Carlisle Larry Bird Conseco Fieldhouse FSN Midwest, WTTV WIBC Conference Semifinals(lost to Pistons 2–4) IND The 2004–05 Indiana Pacers season was the Pacers' 29th season in the National Basketball Association, and 38th season as a franchise.2004-05 Indiana Pacers The Pacers finished third in the Central Division with a 44–38 record. This season also marked the final season for All-Star guard Reggie Miller. Offseason NBA draft 2004 NBA draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 29 David Harrison C United States Colorado 2 60 Rashad Wright G United States Georgia Summary Before the regular season began, the Indiana Pacers were ranked top in the Eastern Conference to possibly reach the NBA Finals, the team rosters contained names such as Reggie Miller, Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley, etc. Al Harrington, a combination forward who had established himself as one of the best sixth-men in the NBA in the past two years, was dealt in the offseason to the Atlanta Hawks in return for swingman Stephen Jackson, after Harrington allegedly demanded that the Pacers start him or trade him. Roster Indiana Pacers #1D1E4B #FFFFFF #FFD300 #1D1E4B 91 Ron Artest Metta World Peace SF 6 7 244 St. John's 1979–11–13 S 24 Jonathan Bender SF 6 11 202 Picayune Memorial HS (MS) 1981–01–30 44 Austin Croshere PF 6 9 235 Providence College 1975–05–01 32 Dale Davis basketball PF 6 11 230 Clemson 1969–03–25 54 John Edwards basketball C 7 0 275 Kent State University 1981–07–31 10 Jeff Foster basketball C 6 11 250 Texas State 1977–01–16 4 Eddie Gill PG 6 0 220 Weber State University 1978–08–16 13 David Harrison basketball C 7 0 280 Colorado 1982–08–15 1 Stephen Jackson SF 6 8 218 Butler CC 1978–04–05 8 Anthony Johnson basketball PG 6 3 190 Charleston 1974–10–02 20 Fred Jones basketball SG 6 4 210 Oregon 1979–03–11 33 James Jones basketball, born 1980 SF 6 8 225 Miami (FL) 1980–10–4 31 Reggie Miller SG 6 7 185 UCLA 1965–08–24 7 Jermaine O'Neal PF 6 11 260 Eau Claire HS (SC) 1978–10–13 62 Scot Pollard C 6 11 278 Kansas 1975–02–12 11 Jamaal Tinsley PG 6 3 195 Iowa State 1978–02–28 Rick Carlisle (Virginia) https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/IND/2005.html 2012–10–10 Regular season The Malice at the Palace Malice at the Palace The Pacers started off the season in an extremely strong fashion, but they took an unexpected turn at the end of a November 19 game against the defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons. Towards the end of a blowout over the Pistons (who had eliminated the Pacers in the previous year's Eastern Conference finals) at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the Pacers' Ron Artest committed a hard foul against Ben Wallace. Wallace retaliated by pushing Artest, and Artest ran over to the scorer's table and laid atop it in order to prevent himself from being provoked into an altercation with Wallace. Pistons fan John Green threw a cup of beer at Artest, causing Artest to charge into the stands. The situation escalated to a full-scale brawl, with fans and several Pacers taking part. Stephen Jackson followed Artest into the stands while Jermaine O'Neal struck a fan who came onto the court. Jamaal Tinsley picked up a long-handled dustpan in order to use as a weapon, although he was never forced to use it. The game was called a Pacers victory with 45.9 seconds left on the clock and the score 97–82, and the Pacers left the floor amid a shower of beer and other beverages that rained down from the stands. Artest was suspended for the rest of the season without pay for his role in the 'basketbrawl.' Several of the involved players were suspended by NBA Commissioner David Stern, but the hardest hit were Artest (suspended for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs), Jackson (suspended for 30 games), O'Neal (25 games), Wallace (6 games) and the Pacers' Anthony Johnson (5 games) (O'Neal's suspension was later reduced to 15 games by arbitrator Roger Kaplan, a decision that was upheld by U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels). O'Neal was charged with two counts of assault and battery, while Artest, Jackson, Johnson and David Harrison were charged with one count each. 5 Players, 7 Fans Charged in Brawl Los Angeles Times December 9, 2004 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-dec-09-sp-brawl9-story.html August 29, 2017 Artest's suspension was the longest in NBA history for any suspension unrelated to substance abuse issues, keeping Artest out of a record 73 regular season games and 13 playoff games. Aftermath After the brawl and the consequences that followed, the Pacers fell downward in the Central Division. They went from a legitimate title contender with a record of 7–2, to a team that hovered around .500 in winning percentage, while the Detroit Pistons eventually became the Central Division champions with a 54–28 record. In addition to all the players rendered unavailable due to suspensions, the Pacers also struggled with several injuries to key players. In one game, the Pacers were forced to activate and dress an injured Jeff Foster even though the coaching staff had no intention of letting him play, just so that they could meet the NBA's requirement that each team has at least eight active players at the start of the game; if they did not activate an eighth player, they would have been forced to forfeit the game. Meanwhile, Fred Jones played 40 or more minutes in six consecutive games, simply because the Pacers did not have any shooting guards in reserve due to an injury to Reggie Miller. Despite the difficulties with the suspensions and injuries, the Pacers earned a sixth seed in the playoffs with a record of 44–38, due to strong play by many talented members of the Pacers' deep bench, including Jones, Anthony Johnson, and Austin Croshere, and a resurgence by Miller, whose career had been dwindling in recent years. Despite Miller's resurgence, he announced in February 2005 through his sister Cheryl Miller that he would be retiring from basketball at the conclusion of the 2004–05 season. Throughout the season, the Pacers signed several different players to replace the bench players who had been promoted to starters, including Michael Curry, Marcus Haislip, and others. In a blowout win over the Milwaukee Bucks on January 4, 2005, Jermaine O'Neal scored a career high in points, with 55. During the fourth quarter, however, he asked to be removed from the game out of respect for Reggie Miller, because he did not wish to break Miller's franchise record of 57 points, which was set during the 1992–93 NBA season. An important reason for their strong finish was the re-acquisition of Dale Davis in March, who had been released by the New Orleans Hornets after being traded there by the Golden State Warriors. He played the final 25 games of the regular season and every playoff game, contributing a strong presence at center. However, Davis' signing coincided with an injury to Jermaine O'Neal that would knock him out for virtually the remainder of the regular season—indeed, O'Neal's first missed game due to his injury was Davis' first game back with the Pacers. So despite the adversity they had gone through, the Pacers made the playoffs for the 13th time in 14 years. In the first round, Indiana defeated the Atlantic Division champion Boston Celtics in seven games, winning Game 7 in Boston by the decisive margin of 97–70. The Pacers then advanced to the second-round against the Detroit Pistons, in a rematch of the previous year's Eastern Conference finals. The series featured games back at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the scene of the brawl that many assumed at the time had effectively ended the Pacers' season. After losing game 1, the Pacers won the next two games to take a 2–1 lead. However, the Pacers could not repeat their victories against the Pistons and lost the next 3 games, losing the series 4–2. End of an era The Pacers' last game of the playoffs was on May 19, 2005, at home; Reggie Miller, in his final NBA game, scored 27 points and received a huge standing ovation from the crowd. Despite Miller's effort, the Pacers lost, sending Miller into retirement without an NBA Championship in his 18-year career, all with the Pacers. Next season, Miller was honored by the Pacers during halftime of a game against the Phoenix Suns on March 30, 2006, when his #31 jersey was retired and he was presented with a Bentley Continental GT. After the 2004–05 season, the Pacers completed a major overhaul of their roster, including moving Ron Artest, Anthony Johnson, Fred Jones, Austin Croshere, James Jones, and others over the next year. Indeed, the Indiana Pacers' 2004–05 campaign, with the retirement of Reggie Miller and the Pacers' last winning season record until 2012, marked the end of an era in Pacers basketball. Season standings IND IND Game log Playoffs Indiana Pacers 2005 yes #000080 #FFD700 Indiana Pacers First Round no yes yes #FFD700 #000080 1 2 3 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 23 | @ Boston | L 82–102 | Stephen Jackson (25) | Dale Davis (10) | Anthony Johnson (5) | FleetCenter18,624 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | April 25 | @ Boston | W 82–79 | Reggie Miller (28) | Anthony Johnson (7) | Anthony Johnson (7) | FleetCenter18,624 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | April 28 | Boston | W 99–76 | Reggie Miller (33) | Jermaine O'Neal (11) | Anthony Johnson (8) | Conseco Fieldhouse18,345 | 2–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | April 30 | Boston | L 79–110 | Stephen Jackson (24) | James Jones (9) | Anthony Johnson (7) | Conseco Fieldhouse18,345 | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | May 3 | @ Boston | W 90–85 | Jermaine O'Neal (19) | Jermaine O'Neal (10) | Jamaal Tinsley (7) | FleetCenter18,624 | 3–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 6 | May 5 | Boston | L 89–92 (OT) | Jermaine O'Neal (26) | Dale Davis (14) | Anthony Johnson (4) | Conseco Fieldhouse18,345 | 3–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 7 | May 7 | @ Boston | W 97–70 | Stephen Jackson (24) | Jeff Foster (12) | Jermaine O'Neal (6) | FleetCenter18,624 | 4–3 |- Indiana Pacers Conference Semifinals no yes #FFD700 #000080 1 2 1 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | May 9 | @ Detroit | L 81–96 | Jermaine O'Neal (22) | Jeff Foster (13) | Johnson, Miller (3) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | May 11 | @ Detroit | W 92–83 | Jermaine O'Neal (22) | Jeff Foster (20) | Jamaal Tinsley (12) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | May 13 | Detroit | W 79–74 | Reggie Miller (17) | Jeff Foster (12) | Jamaal Tinsley (6) | Conseco Fieldhouse18,345 | 2–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | May 15 | Detroit | L 76–89 | Stephen Jackson (23) | Jermaine O'Neal (13) | Anthony Johnson (6) | Conseco Fieldhouse18,345 | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | May 17 | @ Detroit | L 67–86 | Jermaine O'Neal (14) | Dale Davis (12) | Jamaal Tinsley (5) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 2–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 6 | May 19 | Detroit | L 79–88 | Reggie Miller (27) | Jermaine O'Neal (11) | Jamaal Tinsley (10) | Conseco Fieldhouse18,345 | 2–4 |- IND 2005 yes Player statistics Regular season Player POS Position GP Games played GS Games starter MP Minutes played REB Rebounds AST Assists STL Steals BLK Blocks PTS Points MPG Minutes per game RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per gameFred Jones basketballSG77 14 2,268 242 196 61 31 813 29.5 3.1 2.5 .8 .4 10.6James Jones basketball, born 1980SF 75 24 1,330 174 57 31 28 371 17.7 2.3 .8 .4 .4 4.9Austin CrosherePF 73 22 1,827 375 98 48 17 647 25.0 5.1 1.3 .7 .2 8.9Eddie GillPG 73 3 1,021 112 83 59 5 269 14.0 1.5 1.1 .8 .1 3.7Reggie MillerSG 66 66 2,105 156 146 50 5 974 31.9 2.4 2.2 .8 .1 14.8Anthony Johnson basketballPG 63 36 1,747 179 302 59 15 532 27.7 2.8 4.8 .9 .2 8.4Jeff Foster basketballC 61 43 1,594 550 43 46 12 426 26.1 9.0 .7 .8 .2 7.0Stephen JacksonSF 51 49 1,806 250 119 64 14 953 35.4 4.9 2.3 1.3 .3 18.7Scot PollardC 49 17 865 205 18 30 24 191 17.7 4.2 .4 .6 .5 3.9Jermaine O'NealPF 44 41 1,530 388 82 25 88 1,068 34.8 8.8 1.9 .6 2.0 24.3David Harrison basketballC 43 14 760 135 13 16 55 264 17.7 3.1 .3 .4 1.3 6.1Jamaal TinsleyPG 40 40 1,301 160 257 81 12 616 32.5 4.0 6.4 2.0 .3 15.4Dale Davis basketball†C 25 25 730 222 24 19 33 172 29.2 8.9 1.0 .8 1.3 6.9John Edwards basketballC 25 1 139 19 3 3 4 29 5.6 .8 .1 .1 .2 1.2Michael Curry basketballSF 18 7 249 27 15 5 4 30 13.8 1.5 .8 .3 .2 1.7Marcus HaislipPF 9 0 106 15 3 2 2 32 11.8 1.7 .3 .2 .2 3.6Tremaine FowlkesSF 8 0 56 8 0 2 0 19 7.0 1.0 .0 .3 .0 2.4Ron Artest Metta Sandiford-ArtestSF 7 7 291 45 22 12 6 172 41.6 6.4 3.1 1.7 .9 24.6Jonathan BenderSF 7 0 93 14 4 1 2 36 13.3 2.0 .6 .1 .3 5.1Britton JohnsenSF 6 1 87 10 4 1 0 12 14.5 1.7 .7 .2 .0 2.0 † Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Pacers only. Playoffs Player POS Position GP Games played GS Games starter MP Minutes played REB Rebounds AST Assists STL Steals BLK Blocks PTS Points MPG Minutes per game RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per gameJermaine O'NealPF13 13 476 104 29 7 34 208 36.6 8.0 2.2 .5 2.6 16.0Stephen JacksonSF13 13 472 50 29 25 6 209 36.3 3.8 2.2 1.9 .5 16.1Reggie MillerSG13 13 430 40 20 10 1 193 33.1 3.1 1.5 .8 .1 14.8Dale Davis basketballC13 13 311 81 5 9 6 69 23.9 6.2 .4 .7 .5 5.3Anthony Johnson basketballPG13 4 316 38 66 13 5 91 24.3 2.9 5.1 1.0 .4 7.0Jeff Foster basketballC13 0 245 96 5 6 12 77 18.8 7.4 .4 .5 .9 5.9Fred Jones basketballSG13 0 234 23 13 8 2 53 18.0 1.8 1.0 .6 .2 4.1James Jones basketball, born 1980SF13 0 214 27 10 7 7 52 16.5 2.1 .8 .5 .5 4.0Austin CrosherePF 10 0 88 17 0 4 1 25 8.8 1.7 .0 .4 .1 2.5Jamaal TinsleyPG 9 9 247 30 51 14 3 78 27.4 3.3 5.7 1.6 .3 8.7Scot PollardC 9 0 67 11 1 1 0 13 7.4 1.2 .1 .1 .0 1.4Eddie GillPG 7 0 45 4 5 1 0 24 6.4 .6 .7 .1 .0 3.4 Awards and records Jermaine O'Neal, NBA All-Star Game Additions Player Acquired Former teamPosition Michael Curry Signed as free agent Toronto Raptors SG Dale Davis Signed as free agent Golden State Warriors C John Edwards Signed as free agent rookie C Tremaine Fowlkes Signed as free agent Detroit Pistons SF Eddie Gill Signed as free agent Portland Trail Blazers PG Marcus Haislip Signed as free agent Milwaukee Bucks PF David Harrison Draft selection rookie C Stephen Jackson Trade Atlanta Hawks SF Britton Johnsen Signed as free agent Orlando Magic SF Subtractions Player Departed New teamPosition Kenny Anderson Signed as free agent Atlanta Hawks PG Jamison Brewer Signed as free agent New York Knicks PG Primož Brezec Expansion draft Charlotte Bobcats C Al Harrington Trade Atlanta Hawks PF An NBA team is normally not allowed to carry more than 12 active players and three inactive players on its roster at any time during the season, but the Pacers were granted an exception to this rule by the NBA due to the Pacers' unusually high number of injured and suspended players. References Category:Indiana Pacers seasons Pace Pace Indiana