2001–02 Indiana Pacers season

The 2001–02 NBA season was the 26th season for the Indiana Pacers in the National Basketball Association, and their 35th season as a franchise. During the off-season, the Pacers acquired point guard, and first-round draft pick Jamaal Tinsley out of Iowa State University from the Atlanta Hawks, who had acquired him from the Memphis Grizzlies, and signed free agent Carlos Rogers.

The Pacers won six of their first eight games of the regular season, but then lost seven of their next nine games and played around .500 basketball for most of the first half of the season, holding a 25–25 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Jalen Rose and Travis Best to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Ron Artest, Brad Miller, Ron Mercer and Kevin Ollie. With a 37–40 record in mid April, the Pacers would win their final five games of the regular season, and sneak into the NBA playoffs as the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference, finishing in fourth place in the Central Division with a 42–40 record.

Jermaine O'Neal averaged 19.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and was named the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year; he was also named to the All-NBA Third Team, and selected for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition, Reggie Miller finished second on the team in scoring with 16.5 points per game, while Al Harrington played a sixth man role off the bench, averaging 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, but was out for the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL after 44 games. Tinsley averaged 9.4 points, 8.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and finished tied in third place in Rookie of the Year voting.

However, in the Eastern Conference First Round of the 2002 NBA playoffs, the Pacers would lose in five games to the top-seeded New Jersey Nets, including a double overtime road loss in Game 5, which the Nets won 120–109. The Nets would go on to reach the NBA Finals for the first time, but would lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in four straight games. Following the season, Rogers was released to free agency.