--The Pacers finished with the same record as last season -- 36-46 -- but that hasn't stopped team officials from feeling like they can be a playoff team again next season after missing the postseason the past three years. The Pacer missed making the postseason by three games. It's hard to be a playoff team when your longest winning streak of the season was just three games, and that was during the third week of the season.
"We're disappointed we didn't make the playoffs, but we did some outstanding things despite that," coach Jim O'Brien said. --The Pacers beat each one of the division leaders at least once. What they couldn't say, however, was that they knew how to win close games. They were 9-12 in games decided by three points or fewer and 1-4 in overtime games.
"They didn't know how to win those games early on," O'Brien said. "They did better in that area as the season went on."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I am looking forward to next year and coming back and getting better. I feel really good about the record with this franchise and these people that I've played with." -- F Troy Murphy.
