2003–04 Indiana Pacers season

The 2003–04 Indiana Pacers season was Indiana's 28th season in the NBA and 37th season as a franchise. During the offseason, former Pacers head coach Larry Bird was named President of Basketball Operations. One of Bird's first moves in his new position was to fire head coach Isiah Thomas after Thomas had led the Pacers to first-round playoff exits for three consecutive years. The defensive-minded Rick Carlisle, former head coach of the Detroit Pistons, was announced as Thomas' replacement. Also during the offseason, the Pacers acquired Scot Pollard from the Sacramento Kings in a three-team trade and signed free agent Kenny Anderson.

Contents

• Standings
• East First Round
• East Conference Semifinals
• East Conference Finals
• Awards and records
• References

The Pacers 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. All-Star small forward 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. 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 eighth-seeded Boston Celtics 4–0. They proceeded to defeat the fourth-seeded Miami Heat 4–2 in the second round, earning the Pacers their fifth 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 third-seeded Detroit Pistons, who were coached by former Pacers coach Larry Brown. Following the season, Al Harrington was traded to the Atlanta Hawks.