1999–2000 Indiana Pacers season
The 1999–2000 NBA season was the Pacers' 24th season in the National Basketball Association, and 33rd season as a franchise. It was their first season playing at the Conseco Fieldhouse. During the off-season, the Pacers acquired top draft pick and high school star Jonathan Bender from the Toronto Raptors. The Pacers played around .500 with a 7–7 start to the season, but then won 15 of their next 17 games. The team finished first place in the Central Division with a 56–26 record, highlighted by a franchise-best 25-game winning streak at home, which was worthy of the Eastern Conference first seed in the playoffs, guaranteed home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time in franchise history, and an all-time franchise best win-loss record. Jalen Rose, who played the previous three seasons off the Pacers' bench, became a starter replacing Chris Mullin in the lineup at small forward, and led the team in scoring with 18.2 points per game, and was named Most Improved Player of the Year. Reggie Miller finished second on the team in scoring averaging 18.1 points per game, and Rik Smits provided them with 12.9 points per game. Dale Davis averaged 10.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, while Austin Croshere played an increased role as the team's sixth man averaging 10.3 points per game off the bench, and Mark Jackson led the team with 8.0 assists per game. Miller and Davis were both selected for the 2000 NBA All-Star Game in Oakland.In the playoffs, the Pacers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the Eastern Conference First Round, and the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, before preceding to defeat their arch-rivals, the New York Knicks in a tough, hard-fought six-game series in the Eastern Conference Finals for the fifth time in seven years, en route to advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. However, the Pacers would lose in the Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.Following the season, Larry Bird resigned as head coach after three seasons, Davis was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, Mullin was released and later re-signed as a free agent with his former team, the Golden State Warriors, Jackson signed with the Toronto Raptors, and Smits retired after playing 12 seasons in the NBA with the Pacers.
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