The 1988–89 Indiana Pacers season was the 13th season for the Indiana Pacers in the National Basketball Association, and their 22nd season as a franchise.
Season summary
Off-season Despite finishing with a 38–44 record the previous season, the Pacers received the second overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft, and selected 7' 4" Dutch center Rik Smits out of Marist College. Before the regular season began, center Steve Stipanovich was out due a left knee injury, and would be sidelined for the entire season after undergoing knee surgery.
Regular season Despite the addition of Smits, the Pacers struggled losing their first nine games of the regular season, posted another nine-game losing streak between December and January, and later on held an 11–35 record at the All-Star break. The Pacers went through four different head coaches this season; head coach Jack Ramsay resigned after an 0–7 start to the season, then after two games under interim coach Mel Daniels, and 20 games under interim coach George Irvine, the team hired Dick Versace as their new head coach. At mid-season, the team traded Wayman Tisdale to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for LaSalle Thompson and Randy Wittman, and traded Herb Williams to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for German small forward Detlef Schrempf. The Pacers suffered a 12-game losing streak between January and February, but played around .500 in winning percentage by posting an 8–8 in March, and won six of their final nine games of the season, finishing in last place in the Central Division with a 28–54 record.
Chuck Person averaged 21.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, while second-year star Reggie Miller showed improvement becoming the team's starting shooting guard, averaging 16.0 points and 1.3 steals per game, plus leading the Pacers with 98 three-point field goals, and Schrempf provided the team with 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in 32 games after the trade. In addition, Vern Fleming contributed 14.3 points and 6.5 assists per game, while Thompson provided with 12.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in 33 games, and Smits averaged 11.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Meanwhile, Scott Skiles contributed 6.8 points and 4.9 assists per game, and Wittman provided with 5.2 points and 2.4 assists per game in 33 games.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas, Miller participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout. The Pacers finished 22nd in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 335,298 at the Market Square Arena during the regular season, which was the fourth-lowest in the league.
Aftermath Following the season, Stipanovich retired after only five seasons in the NBA with the Pacers; Stipanovich had gone through two knee operations, and doctors discovered he had a "dead spot" in the bone of his left knee. Meanwhile, Skiles was left unprotected in the 1989 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Orlando Magic expansion team.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 2 Rik Smits C Marist 3 61 Herbert Crook F Louisville 3 73 Michael Anderson Drexel
Roster
Roster notes Center Steve Stipanovich was on the injured reserve list due to a left knee injury, and missed the entire regular season.
Regular season
Season standings
z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot
Game log
Player statistics
Regular season PlayerC82 71 2,041 500 70 37 151 956 24.9 6.1 .9 .5 1.8 11.7SF 80 79 3,012 516 289 83 18 1,728 37.7 6.5 3.6 1.0 .2 21.6PG 80 13 1,571 149 390 64 2 546 19.6 1.9 4.9 .8 .0 6.8PG 76 69 2,552 310 494 77 12 1,084 33.6 4.1 6.5 1.0 .2 14.3SG 74 70 2,536 292 227 93 29 1,181 34.3 3.9 3.1 1.3 .4 16.0C 72 0 783 245 29 11 21 188 10.9 3.4 .4 .2 .3 2.6C 53 4 396 92 18 5 11 129 7.5 1.7 .3 .1 .2 2.4†PF 48 5 1,326 310 75 35 32 768 27.6 6.5 1.6 .7 .7 16.0†C 46 46 1,567 396 88 31 80 578 34.1 8.6 1.9 .7 1.7 12.6SF 46 0 313 52 20 14 6 152 6.8 1.1 .4 .3 .1 3.3†SG 44 1 767 66 65 29 1 323 17.4 1.5 1.5 .7 .0 7.3PG 35 0 209 23 37 9 4 65 6.0 .7 1.1 .3 .1 1.9†C 33 29 1,053 326 37 33 39 413 31.9 9.9 1.1 1.0 1.2 12.5†SF 33 11 704 54 79 13 2 173 21.3 1.6 2.4 .4 .1 5.2†PF 32 12 1,005 229 93 29 10 475 31.4 7.2 2.9 .9 .3 14.8PG 2 0 11 0 1 0 0 6 5.5 .0 .5 .0 .0 3.0PG 2 0 9 2 0 0 0 2 4.5 1.0 .0 .0 .0 1.0
Awards and records Rik Smits, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team
Transactions
References
See also 1988-89 NBA season