The 1997–98 NBA season was the Pacers' 22nd season in the National Basketball Association, and 31st season as a franchise. In the off-season, the Pacers hired former Indiana State and Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird as 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. The Pacers struggled early in the season losing five of their first seven games, but then won 15 of their next 18 games, 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, and returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence finishing second in the Central Division with a 58–24 record. It was also the first time since joining the NBA that the Pacers finished with a winning road record. The Pacers had the fifth best team defensive rating in the NBA. Reggie Miller, Rik Smits and coach Bird represented the Eastern Conference during the 1998 NBA All-Star Game; it was also Smits' only All-Star appearance. Miller led the Pacers in scoring averaging 19.5 points per game, and was selected to the All-NBA Third Team, while Smits averaged 16.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, and Mullin provided the team with 11.3 points per game. 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. Bird was named Coach of the Year after his first season as head coach. In the playoffs, the Pacers would defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers three games to one in the Eastern Conference First Round, then defeat the 7th-seeded New York Knicks four games to one in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals. In the Eastern Conference finals, the Pacers faced Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the 2-time defending champion Chicago Bulls. However, with the series tied at 3–3, the Pacers would lose to the Bulls in a hard fought seven-game series. The Bulls would go on to defeat the Utah Jazz in six games in the NBA Finals for their third consecutive championship, and sixth overall in eight years. Following the season, West signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks, and Haywoode Workman, who missed the entire season with a knee injury, was released to free agency and signed with the Milwaukee Bucks midway through the next season. A notable highlight of the season was the Pacers defeating the visiting Portland Trail Blazers, 124–59 at 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 sported new pinstripe uniforms, which would remain in use until 2005.

Draft picks

Roster

Roster Notes

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Ragular season

Playoffs

Awards

Transactions