1994–95 Indiana Pacers season

1994–95 Indiana Pacers season
1994–95 Indiana Pacers season
Division champions
Head coach	Larry Brown
General manager	Donnie Walsh
Arena	Market Square Arena
Results
Record	52–30 (.634)
Place	Division: 1st (Central); Conference: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost to Orlando Magic in Eastern Conference Finals (3-4)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Prime Sports Midwest, WTTV
Radio	WIBC
< 1993–94	1995–96 >

The 1994–95 NBA season was Indiana's 19th season in the NBA and 28th season as a franchise.^[1] After appearing in their first Conference Finals, the Pacers improved their fortunes by adding Mark Jackson, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers. The move would pay off as the Pacers won their first division title since joining the NBA.^[2] The Pacers finished the season with a 52–30 record, and Rik Smits had a career year as he averaged 17.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.^[2] Reggie Miller was selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game, which was his first All-Star appearance since 1990.

In the playoffs, the Pacers faced off against the Atlanta Hawks for the second consecutive season. The Pacers swept the Hawks in three straight games. As they advanced to the second round of the playoffs, the Pacers found themselves in a rematch with New York Knicks. As the Knicks had a better regular season record, the series started in New York. In Game 1, the Pacers were down 6 points with 16.4 seconds left. Miller would single handedly stun the Knicks by nailing a 3 pointer and then stealing the inbounds pass and tying the game with another three pointer.^[2] Knicks fan Spike Lee was just a few feet away. Miller would add 2 free throws and give the Pacers a legendary comeback win. The Pacers lost Game 2 and the series returned to Indiana. After four games, the Pacers took a 3–1 series lead. The Knicks would bounce back and force a 7th game at Madison Square Garden. The Pacers would emerge victorious as Patrick Ewing's last second shot did not go in the basket.

With a 1-point win, the Pacers qualified for the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive season. The Pacers were very familiar with their opponents. Like their first and second round opponents, the Pacers played the Orlando Magic the previous postseason. The Pacers pushed a strong Orlando team to a 7th game before losing the series.^[2] The home team would win every game in the series.

Following the season, Byron Scott left in the 1995 NBA Expansion Draft, Vern Fleming signed as an unrestricted free agent with the New Jersey Nets, and Sam Mitchell re-signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	15	Eric Piatkowski	SG	United States	Nebraska
2	41	William Njoku	PF	Ghana/ Canada	St. Mary's (Canada)
2	44	Damon Bailey	G	United States	Indiana

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Height	Weight	DOB
PF	33	Davis, Antonio	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	UTEP
PF	32	Davis, Dale	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Clemson
SF	27	Ferrell, Duane	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	209 lb (95 kg)	Georgia Tech
PG	10	Fleming, Vern	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Georgia
PG	13	Jackson, Mark	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	St. John's
C	54	Kite, Greg	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	BYU
SF	9	McKey, Derrick	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Alabama
SG	31	Miller, Reggie (C)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	UCLA
SF	5	Mitchell, Sam	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Mercer
SG	4	Scott, Byron	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Arizona State
C	45	Smits, Rik	7 ft 4 in (2.24 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Marist
PF	21	Strickland, Mark	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Temple
C	41	Thompson, LaSalle	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Texas
PF	24	Williams, John	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	LSU
PG	3	Workman, Haywoode	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Oral Roberts

Head coach

Larry Brown (North Carolina)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Roster
Last transaction: {{{access-date}}}

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Rik Smits		Greg Kite	LaSalle Thompson
PF	Dale Davis	Antonio Davis	John Williams
SF	Derrick McKey	Sam Mitchell	Duane Ferrell	Mark Strickland
SG	Reggie Miller	Byron Scott
PG	Mark Jackson	Haywoode Workman	Vern Fleming

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Indiana Pacers	52	30	.634	–	33–8	19–22	18–10
x-Charlotte Hornets	50	32	.610	2	29–12	21–20	17–11
x-Chicago Bulls	47	35	.573	5	28–13	19–22	16–12
x-Cleveland Cavaliers	43	39	.524	9	26–15	17–24	17–11
x-Atlanta Hawks	42	40	.512	10	24–17	18–23	9–19
Milwaukee Bucks	34	48	.415	18	22–19	12–29	13–15
Detroit Pistons	28	54	.341	24	22–19	6–35	8–20

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Orlando Magic	57	25	.695	–
2	y-Indiana Pacers	52	30	.634	5
3	x-New York Knicks	55	27	.671	2
4	x-Charlotte Hornets	50	32	.610	7
5	x-Chicago Bulls	47	35	.573	10
6	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	43	39	.524	14
7	x-Atlanta Hawks	42	40	.512	15
8	x-Boston Celtics	35	47	.427	22

9	Milwaukee Bucks	34	48	.415	23
10	Miami Heat	32	50	.390	25
11	New Jersey Nets	30	52	.366	27
12	Detroit Pistons	28	54	.341	29
13	Philadelphia 76ers	24	58	.293	33
14	Washington Bullets	21	61	.256	36

^[3]

Record vs. opponents

1994–95 NBA records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHA	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIA	MIL	MIN	NJN	NYK	ORL	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	3–1	2–2	1–4	1–4	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–0	0–2	1–4	2–0	0–2	2–2	1–3	2–0	4–0	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	4–0
Boston	1–3	—	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	4–1	1–3	2–0	2–3	0–5	2–3	3–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	3–1
Charlotte	2–2	3–1	—	2–2	3–2	0–2	1–1	5–0	2–0	0–2	1–4	2–0	0–2	3–1	4–1	1–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–1
Chicago	4–1	4–0	2–2	—	2–3	1–1	1–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–4	2–0	2–2	3–1	1–3	4–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–2
Cleveland	4–1	2–2	2–3	3–2	—	0–2	1–1	2–2	2–0	0–2	2–3	1–1	1–1	1–3	4–0	1–1	4–0	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–1
Dallas	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	—	1–4	1–1	3–1	2–3	1–1	3–1	1–3	0–2	1–1	4–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	0–4	3–1	2–2	2–3	0–4	2–4	1–1
Denver	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–1	—	1–1	1–3	1–4	1–1	4–0	2–2	2–0	2–0	6–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–3	3–1	2–2	1–4	1–3	1–4	2–0
Detroit	2–3	1–3	0–5	0–5	2–2	1–1	1–1	—	1–1	0–2	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	2–3	1–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	4–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	3–1
Golden State	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–3	3–1	1–1	—	0–4	0–2	3–2	3–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–2	1–4	0–5	1–3	1–4	2–2	2–0
Houston	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	3–2	4–1	2–0	4–0	—	1–1	3–1	0–4	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–0	3–1	1–3	3–1	1–5	0–4	2–3	2–0
Indiana	4–1	2–2	4–1	2–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	—	2–0	1–1	2–2	3–2	2–0	3–1	1–3	2–2	4–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–1
L.A. Clippers	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	0–4	1–1	2–3	1–3	0–2	—	2–3	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–4	0–5	1–4	0–4	0–5	1–3	0–2
L.A. Lakers	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–2	2–0	2–3	4–0	1–1	3–2	—	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–4	2–3	3–2	1–3	4–1	2–2	2–0
Miami	2–2	1–4	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–0	0–2	3–1	1–1	0–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	—	4–0	1–1	1–3	1–4	1–3	1–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	4–1
Milwaukee	3–1	3–1	1–4	4–1	0–4	1–1	0–2	3–2	2–0	1–1	2–3	1–1	1–1	0–4	—	1–1	2–2	2–2	0–4	3–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	3–1
Minnesota	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–4	0–6	1–1	3–1	2–3	0–2	3–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	—	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–4	0–4	1–3	0–5	0–4	1–4	1–1
New Jersey	0–4	3–2	1–3	2–2	0–4	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	2–0	0–2	3–1	2–2	1–1	—	1–4	2–2	2–3	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–3
New York	2–2	5–0	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–0	2–0	3–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	4–1	2–2	2–0	4–1	—	2–3	4–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	4–0
Orlando	3–1	3–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	3–1	4–0	1–1	2–2	3–2	—	4–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–2
Philadelphia	1–3	1–3	1–3	0–4	1–3	0–2	1–1	0–4	1–1	0–2	0–4	1–1	1–1	4–1	1–3	1–1	3–2	0–4	1–4	—	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	3–2
Phoenix	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–0	3–1	1–1	2–3	1–3	1–1	4–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	—	5–0	4–1	2–2	4–1	2–2	2–0
Portland	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–3	2–0	4–1	3–1	1–1	5–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	4–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–5	—	3–2	1–3	2–3	1–3	2–0
Sacramento	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	5–0	1–3	0–2	4–1	2–3	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–4	2–3	—	0–4	3–2	0–4	1–1
San Antonio	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–2	4–1	2–0	3–1	5–1	0–2	4–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	5–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	3–1	4–0	—	2–2	3–2	2–0
Seattle	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	4–0	3–1	2–0	4–1	4–0	1–1	5–0	1–4	2–0	2–0	4–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–4	3–2	2–3	2–2	—	1–3	2–0
Utah	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–2	4–1	2–0	2–2	3–2	2–0	3–1	2–2	2–0	2–0	4–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	3–1	4–0	2–3	3–1	—	2–0
Washington	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–1	0–2	1–3	0–2	0–2	1–3	2–0	0–2	1–4	1–3	1–1	3–2	0–4	2–3	2–3	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	—

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Pacers points	Opponents	Record	Streak	Notes
1

^[4]

Playoffs

East First Round

(2) Indiana Pacers vs. (7) Atlanta Hawks: Pacers win series 3-0

Game 1 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (April 27): Indiana 90, Atlanta 82
Game 2 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (April 29): Indiana 105, Atlanta 97
Game 3 @ The Omni, Atlanta (May 2): Indiana 105, Atlanta 89

Last Playoff Meeting: 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals (Indiana won 4-2)

East Conference Semifinals

(2) Indiana Pacers vs. (3) New York Knicks: Pacers win series 4-3

Game 1 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (May 7): Indiana 107, New York 105
Game 2 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (May 9): New York 96, Indiana 77
Game 3 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (May 11): Indiana 97, New York 95 (OT)
Game 4 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (May 13): Indiana 98, New York 84
Game 5 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (May 17): New York 96, Indiana 95
Game 6 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (May 19): New York 92, Indiana 82
Game 7 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (May 21): Indiana 97, New York 95

Last Playoff Meeting: 1994 Eastern Conference Finals (New York won 4-3)

East Conference Finals

(1) Orlando Magic vs. (2) Indiana Pacers: Magic win series 4-3

Game 1 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (May 23): Orlando 105, Indiana 101
Game 2 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (May 25): Orlando 119, Indiana 114
Game 3 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (May 27): Indiana 105, Orlando 100
Game 4 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (May 29): Indiana 94, Orlando 93
Game 5 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (May 31): Orlando 108, Indiana 106
Game 6 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (June 2): Indiana 123, Orlando 96
Game 7 @ Orlando Arena, Orlando (June 4): Orlando 105, Indiana 81

Last Playoff Meeting: 1994 Eastern Conference First Round (Indiana won 3-0)

Awards, records, and honors

Player stats

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	AVG

Playoffs

Player	GP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	AVG

Transactions

References

Pacers on Basketball Reference

[1] 1994-95 Indiana Pacers

[autogenerated1-2] Indiana Pacers (1967-Present)

[3] 1994–95 NBA season Summary - Basketball-Reference.com

[4] 1994-95 Indiana Pacers Games - Basketball-Reference.com

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Indiana Pacers
Founded in 1967 Based in Indianapolis, Indiana
Franchise	History ABA–NBA merger All-time roster Draft history Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	Indiana State Fair Coliseum Market Square Arena Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Personnel	Owner(s) Herb Simon President Kevin Pritchard General manager Chad Buchanan Head coach Rick Carlisle
G League affiliate	Indiana Mad Ants
Retired numbers	30 31 34 35 529
ABA championships	1970 1972 1973
Rivalries	Miami Heat New York Knicks
Culture and lore	Broadcasters Boomer Dancing Harry Team Bikeshare The Knick-Killer The Dunking Dutchman Malice at the Palace Reb Porter