1997–98 Indiana Pacers season

The 1997–98 NBA season was the 22nd season for the Indiana Pacers in the National Basketball Association, and their 31st season as a franchise. During the off-season, the Pacers hired former Indiana State University, and Boston Celtics All-Star legend Larry Bird as their new 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 regular 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 of the season, and returned to the NBA playoffs after a one-year absence, finishing in second place in the Central Division with a 58–24 record, and earning the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference; 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 led the Pacers in scoring averaging 19.5 points per game, led them with 164 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, while Rik Smits averaged 16.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, and Mullin provided the team with 11.3 points per game and 107 three-point field goals. 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.

Miller, Smits and coach Bird represented the Eastern Conference during the 1998 NBA All-Star Game in New York City, New York; it was also Smits' only All-Star appearance. Bird was named the NBA Coach of the Year, after leading the Pacers to a 19-game improvement over the previous season. Meanwhile, Miller and Smits both finished tied in sixteenth place in Most Valuable Player voting, and Rose finished tied in thirteenth place in Most Improved Player voting.

In the 1998 NBA 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 off against 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 1998 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 regular season due to a knee injury, was released to free agency and signed with the Milwaukee Bucks midway through the next season.

A notable highlight of the regular season was the Pacers defeating the visiting Portland Trail Blazers, 124–59 at the 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 with golden yellow side panels, which would remain in use until 2005.