The team battled against teams like the Bucks and the Magic, oscillating around the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, showing a struggling strength, but the other three opponents were really beyond their reach.
Playing against the league-leading Pistons and the top team in the West, the Spurs, they were thoroughly beaten.
The Bobcats had previously taken advantage of internal conflicts within the Pacers to beat them twice.
After trading away Artest for Peja, the Pacers, with players like the younger O'Neal, Stephen Jackson, and Jamal Tinsley... made a concerted effort to cooperate with Peja, aiming to prove they could still perform well with a different perimeter scorer. United as a team and drawing on their experience playing with top-notch shooters, they quickly meshed and went 9-6 in the 15 games before facing the Bobcats again.