The Indiana Pacers are pointing fingers at officials after going down o-2 to the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle was ejected after aggressively disputing several calls in Game 2, particularly when officials correctly overturned a double-dribble violation that could have given the Pacers a crucial possession with the game still teetering.
After the game, a frustrated Carlisle spoke about submitting complaints to the league office, saying that the officials missed 78 calls and non-calls over Games 1 and 2.
But with the Indiana Pacers surrendering Game 2 despite Tyrese Haliburton’s scoring explosion and a hobbled Jalen Brunson, Carlisle and his group must look in the mirror.
Indiana Pacers: 78 Missed Calls, Noncalls?
After the Indiana Pacers fell behind 2-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 130-121 loss to the Knicks last night, Rick Carlisle said Indiana counted 29 questionable calls, non-calls from Game 1. According to reports, the Pacers also questioned 49 plays from Game 2 that they felt were incorrectly called or not called at all and also submitted them for review.
After deciding not to submit anything to the league office following the Game 1 loss, Carlisle said that his team was so disappointed with the officiating in Game 2 that they elected to gather as much evidence from the first two games as they could to prove they were playing at a disadvantage. Carlisle showed his displessure with the officiating during his post game presser when he stated:
I can promise you that we’re going to submit these tonight. New York can get ready. They’ll see ’em too. I’m always talking to our guys about not making it about the officials, but we deserve a fair shot
‘Small-Market’ Indiana Pacers Against a Big-Market Team
Also, during the post game press conference, coach Carlisle stated:
Small-market teams deserve an equal shot. They deserve a fair shot no matter where they’re playing.
These remarks from the Indiana Pacers head coach sparked a ton of debate: are big-market teams given an advantage in the NBA playoffs?
Clearly, Carlisle was emotional after the game was caught in the spur of the moment. In 2011, he led the small-market Dallas Mavericks franchise to an NBA championship after going through multiple quality opponents like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant.
While Carlisle made his views on the officiating well-known, Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton had a slightly different attitude following the loss. During his press conference after the game he said:
Let’s not pretend like [officiating] is the only reason we lost. We just didn’t play good enough. We just got to be better.
The Indiana Pacers Must Look in The Mirror
When Jalen Brunson began clapping at his bench to call for a substitution, a bit of life was sucked out of Madison Square Garden. At the 3:30 mark of the first quarter of Game 2, Brunson exited the game with a sudden injury and would miss the rest of the first half.
With no Brunson for New York, Indiana was able to swing the momentum following a 17-point first-half turnaround, giving them a double-digit advantage going to halftime.
Even with Brunson returning, it’s never justifiable to blow a 10-point lead entering the third quarter, especially in a raucous road playoff game when you have the opportunity to tie the series before returning home for Game 3.
The Indiana Pacers let a golden opportunity slip away.
Despite being hobbled, the Indiana Pacers allowed Brunson to torch them to the tune of 24 second-half points — 14 of the 24 coming in the fourth quarter. That’s 14 of New York’s 31 fourth-quarter points coming from No. 11.
Indiana scored just 30 points as a team in the final period.
Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals will shift to Indianapolis, and the Indiana Pacers must make several key adjustments to avoid getting swept on their home floor.
With Jalen Brunson recently matching Michael Jordan in a playoff-scoring feat, the Pacers have their hands full.
About The Author
Adel Ahmad, 23, is a Senior NBA Writer for the NBA. He is a passionate NBA fan with a deep background in writing across the media, sports debate, and screenwriting for YouTube and TikTok.
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