The Indiana Pacers nearly left Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals with a win, but a horrific late-game stretch that included missed shots, turnovers, and a clutch Jaylen Brown three led to them falling 128-133 in OT to the Boston Celtics. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has already accepted blame for the loss.
“This loss is totally on me. With 10 seconds in regulation, we should have just taken the timeout, advance the ball and found a way to get it in and made a free throw or two, and ended the game but it didn’t happen. We made some other mistakes, but our guys need to just concentrate on fighting the way they fought in this game from start to finish. We’ll be back Thursday.”
"This loss is totally on me. With 10 seconds in regulation, we should have just taken the timeout, advance the ball and found a way to get it in and made a free throw or two and ended the game."
Rick Carlisle after Pacers-Celtics Game 1.pic.twitter.com/yHkQ54iVsX
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 22, 2024
The Pacers were up five points with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, which stayed at three points with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game. This started a nightmare stretch for the Pacers, where they saw Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard commit careless turnovers.
Carlisle elected to not take a timeout or instruct his players to foul up three points, leading to the Jaylen Brown three which sent the game to OT.
This was a golden opportunity for the Pacers to set the tone in a playoff series where they’re considered massive underdogs. Deflating the home crowd with a road win would have been excellent for Indiana, but the franchise will have to come in for Game 2 with a 0-1 deficit.
Jaylen Brown hit the shot to send the game to OT and ended the night with 26 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Jayson Tatum had a sensational outing, putting up 36 points and 12 rebounds, and clinching the win with a phenomenal OT performance.
Tyrese Haliburton had 25 points and 10 assists in the Pacers loss, as Pascal Siakam put up 24 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Myles Turner had a big night as well with 23 points and 10 rebounds, but it went to waste in the loss.
Tyrese Haliburton Is Confident The Pacers Belong In A Series Against The Celtics
The Indiana Pacers have made their Playoff run with the benefit of various contenders in the Eastern Conference crumbling due to injury. Even with the doubts around their legitimacy, Haliburton believes this game shows they belong in the Conference Finals.
“We know we can play with these guys. That’s for y’all to say, there’s a lot of people here saying we don’t belong here. We don’t care. We know we belong.”
"We know we can play with these guys…We know we belong."
Tyrese Haliburton after Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. pic.twitter.com/q5qM4KhMDf
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 22, 2024
The 76ers had a hobbled Joel Embiid who missed most of the season, the Bucks were without Giannis Antetokounmpo for the entirety of their first-round loss to the Pacers while Damian Lillard also missed some games. The Knicks ended their series with the Pacers without six key rotational players, five of them being starters this season.
The Pacers will not be favored to win Game 2 or any game in this series from an oddsmakers perspective, but if Haliburton can take a mid-series superstar leap, we can’t rule anything out.
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