As if playing at the Madison Square Garden wasn't hard enough for the Indiana Pacers Monday night, the officiating during a crucial moment in the series opener versus the New York Knicks made it harder for Rick Carlisle's team to steal a win in the Big Apple. A controversial kickball call that favored the Knicks with just under a minute left in regulation helped break the back of Indiana, which suffered a 121-117 loss to Jalen Brunson and company.
With the game tied at 115-115, Brunson tried to make a pass to Donte DiVincenzo but the ball was knocked off its course by Pacers small forward Aaron Nesmith, who was called for a kickball even though replays showed that it did not hit him in the foot. The call went unchallenged and with the Knicks retaining possession, DiVincenzo scored a huge 3-pointer that put New York ahead — for good.
For the record, such a violation is not reviewable. Only fouls, goaltends, and out of bounds calls are allowed by the NBA to be challenged.
It got worse for the Pacers when center Myles Turner was slapped with an offensive foul after setting a screen for Tyrese Haliburton. Indiana challenged that foul but the call stood.
Pacers' Rick Carlisle, Myles Turner sound off on officiating
Carlisle kept his emotions in check when he offered his thoughts on the officiating in the contest.
“I don’t want to talk about the officiating. We’re not expecting to get calls here. It would be nice if they (Tyler Ford) laid off that one (Turner's offensive foul) but they didn’t so that’s just the way it goes,” Carlisle said after the game.
Turner also voiced out his frustrations about how the refs handled the officiating ((via Tony East of All Pacers on SI)).
“In my experience in this league, I think it's best when players decide the outcome of the game,” Turner said . He added that the Pacers can't leave the game to be decided by the refs, though he added he's looking forwad to the Last 2 Minutes report coming out.
The pool report about the kickball call will also not make Carlisle and the Pacers feel any better.
“On the floor we felt that would be a kicked ball violation. Post game review did show that it hit the defender’s hand, which would be legal,” crew chief Zach Zarba said when asked about whether the call on Nesmith was the correct one.
Social media reactions to officiating in Game 1
“Refs called this a kick ball and the Pacers lost out on a fast break layup….. What is going on???? @OfficialNBARefs,” said @AidanLaPorta69.
“Pacers got robbed of a transition opportunity on the Haliburton steal, robbed of another steal because of the kicked ball call, and then the incredibly soft moving screen. I’m really really not a blame the refs guy, but that was brutal,” posted @RohanNadkarni.
“NO WAY!!! Refs called this an offensive foul on the Pacers. Pacers challenge the call but how is this called with 12 seconds left?,” shared @Rate_the_Refs.
From @PacersStatsMuse: “The whole world just saw the refs rig a game for the Knicks on the biggest stage. These officials need to be held accountable”
The Pacers will just have to put this one behind them and look to bounce back stronger in Game 2 on Wednesday.
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