Year after year, NBA executives recognize Rick Carlisle as one of the league’s best in-game coaches.
Carlisle, the head coach of the Indiana Pacers, acknowledged late Tuesday night that he didn’t have his best performance in the final seconds of regulation during the Boston Celtics’ 133-128 overtime victory over the Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
“This loss is totally on me,” Carlisle said.
The Pacers were leading 117-114 and had possession of the basketball, but a turnover on the in-bound pass allowed Celtics guard Jaylen Brown to hit a corner 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter, forcing overtime.
“With 10 seconds (left) in regulation, we should’ve just taken the timeout, advanced the ball, and found a way to get it in and made a free throw or two and ended the game,” Carlisle said. “It didn’t happen.”
While many Pacers players are experiencing the conference finals for the first time, Carlisle is a seasoned championship coach with decades of experience.
He wasn’t the only one making mistakes in a game the Pacers will likely view as one they should have won. Indiana committed 22 turnovers that led to 32 points. Besides the critical late-game turnover, Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton lost the basketball out of bounds with 27.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter, with the Pacers ahead by three points. Haliburton also had another turnover in overtime, leading to a Jayson Tatum 3-pointer that put the Celtics up 127-123.
“We made mistakes, so that’s an area we need to clean up,” Carlisle said.
Even Brown’s 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime is being scrutinized. Up three, why not foul and prevent a game-tying 3? That was the instruction. However, Brown caught the ball in the corner ready to shoot, and Pacers forward Pascal Siakam didn’t want to risk fouling Brown and giving him the chance at three free throws or a four-point play.
“He caught the ball and was face up, and Pascal decided to lay off which I understand was probably the right decision,” Carlisle said.
Siakam added, “As soon as I got to him – I was a little late because of the screen – he was going up so I didn’t do it (foul). I was a little too late. If you have an opportunity to do it, you do it. I felt like he was going into his (shooting) motion. It was a tough shot. Maybe I could’ve contested it better. It was just a tough play.”
The image of Siakam with his hands behind his back as Brown launched a 3-pointer in front of the Pacers’ bench will linger for Indiana until Game 2.
“A lot of things had to go wrong for us and right for them. They did,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got to own it and we’ve got to get ready for Thursday.”
The Pacers performed well enough to win. They shot better from the field (53.5%-47.5%) and 3-point range (37.1%-33.3%), outrebounded Boston, had more assists, and their bench outscored Boston’s 30-13.
However, the turnovers and the refusal to call a timeout proved costly for Indiana. These mistakes not only impact a game but can also influence the outcome of a series. The sixth seed can’t afford to miss many opportunities against the one seed.
“We’ve been a tough-minded, resilient team the second half of the year,” Carlisle said, “and we’ve got to continue that.”
