The 2006–07

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first est ...

season was Indiana's 31st season in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

and 40th season as a franchise. They began the season hoping to improve upon their 41-41 output from the previous season. However, they came six wins shy of tying it, finishing 35-47.2006-07 Indiana Pacers
/ref> The Pacers would miss the playoffs for the first time since

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Draft Selections

Season Summary

During the Summer of 2006, the Pacers lost

Peja Stojakovic Peja (Indefinite Albanian form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipality and Peja District. It is situated in the region of Rugova on the eastern section of the Accursed Mounta ...

, whom they had just acquired in a trade from the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

during the previous season, in free agency to the

New Orleans Hornets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. Because of this, they were granted a trade exception by the NBA, which they used to re-acquire former Pacer Al Harrington from the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. They also pulled off two separate trades with the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Southwest Division. The ...

, giving up established veterans Anthony Johnson and

Austin Croshere Austin Nathan Croshere (born May 1, 1975) is a retired American professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs throughout his 12-year career in the N ...

for unexplained reasons. These two trades were disappointing to Pacers fans, who were confused by the trades and saw them as one-sided in the favor of the Mavericks. In June 2006, once-promising talent Jonathan Bender announced that he was retiring from the NBA at the age of 25, due to his struggles with knee injuries. The Pacers had traded All-Star big man

Antonio Davis Antonio Lee Davis (born October 31, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, and New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played f ...

to acquire Bender in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

when he was an 18-year-old rookie with great potential, but his constant injuries had prevented him from ever developing. When the regular season finally started, the Pacers had a significantly different roster than they did at the end of the previous season. The Pacers hovered around the .500 mark for most of the season, and were a borderline playoff team. In January 2007, the Pacers pulled off another major trade, this time with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

, giving up troubled swingman

Stephen Jackson Stephen Jesse Jackson (born April 5, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors ...

, Al Harrington, and other pieces for versatile big man Troy Murphy and unproven swingman Mike Dunleavy as well as some other pieces. This trade was perceived as the only way for the Pacers to finally part ways with Jackson, who had lost the respect of Pacers fans due to his involvement in "The Brawl" and in a shooting at an Indianapolis nightclub. After the trade, the Pacers fell downward in the standings, marked by an 11-game losing streak which stretched from late February to mid-March, and eventually were eliminated from qualification for the 2007 NBA Playoffs. This would be the first time the Pacers missed the playoffs since the 1996-97 season, and the first of a streak of four seasons of missing the playoffs. Ironically, the perennial basement-dweller Warriors wound up making the playoffs for the first time since the 1993-94 season, and even advanced to the second round by upsetting the first-seeded Mavericks 4-2 in the first round. This left the dwindling community of Pacers fans with a sour taste in their mouths as they wondered how far the team might have gone if the trade in January had not occurred. Thus, coach Rick Carlisle was fired at the conclusion of the Pacers' season in April, and it was announced in May that Jim O'Brien, former head coach of the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

and

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

, would replace him as the Pacers' head coach for the next season.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

, - , , 81 , , 4 , , 15.7 , , .414 , , .336 , , .785 , , 1.7 , , 2.4 , , .9 , , .1 , , 5.6 , - , , 47 , , 2 , , 8.6 , , style=";", .645 , , .429 , , .787 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , .3 , , .4 , , 2.9 , - , , 45 , , 4 , , 17.8 , , .459 , , .231 , , .700 , , 1.8 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .2 , , 7.1 , - , , 42 , , 2 , , 12.8 , , .454 , , . , , .802 , , 3.3 , , .5 , , .1 , , .4 , , 5.8 , - , , 43 , , 43 , , style=";", 35.6 , , .454 , , .283 , , .792 , , 5.7 , , 2.6 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 14.0 , - , , 75 , , 43 , , 23.2 , , .469 , , .000 , , .639 , , 8.1 , , .8 , , .8 , , .5 , , 4.3 , - , , style=";", 82 , , 57 , , 34.0 , , .459 , , .382 , , .803 , , 4.6 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , .7 , , 13.9 , - , , 41 , , 0 , , 6.2 , , .371 , , .182 , , .600 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .4 , , .1 , , 1.5 , - , , 36 , , 36 , , 33.6 , , .458 , , style=";", .458 , , .713 , , 6.3 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .3 , , 15.9 , - , , 24 , , 2 , , 7.9 , , .517 , , . , , .500 , , 1.8 , , .3 , , .2 , , .5 , , 3.0 , - , , 37 , , 32 , , 32.1 , , .419 , , .297 , , .822 , , 2.6 , , 3.1 , , .9 , , .5 , , 14.1 , - , , 37 , , 1 , , 17.9 , , .412 , , .372 , , style=";", .922 , , 1.3 , , 3.0 , , .4 , , .0 , , 7.4 , - , , 40 , , 2 , , 9.0 , , .360 , , .222 , , .689 , , .7 , , .3 , , .3 , , .1 , , 2.5 , - , , 22 , , 7 , , 15.4 , , .386 , , .318 , , .880 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , .3 , , .1 , , 4.2 , - , , 42 , , 31 , , 28.2 , , .461 , , .409 , , .772 , , 6.1 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , .6 , , 11.1 , - , , 69 , , 69 , , 35.6 , , .436 , , .000 , , .767 , , style=";", 9.6 , , 2.4 , , .7 , , style=";", 2.6 , , style=";", 19.4 , - , , 7 , , 0 , , 9.1 , , .133 , , . , , .667 , , 2.7 , , .4 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.7 , - , , 72 , , style=";", 72 , , 31.2 , , .389 , , .316 , , .720 , , 3.3 , , style=";", 6.9 , , style=";", 1.6 , , .3 , , 12.8 , - , , 46 , , 3 , , 12.1 , , .469 , , .365 , , .550 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , .1 , , .2 , , 3.9

Awards and records

Jermaine O'Neal Jermaine Lee O'Neal Sr. (born October 13, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. The center– power forward had a successful high school career and declared his eligibility for the 1996 NBA draft straight out of high ...

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, ...

Transactions

Roster changes

Additions

Subtractions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2006-07 Indiana Pacers season Indiana Pacers seasons Pace Pace

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...