After battling through adversity, setbacks, and more than a few doubters, the Indiana Pacers officially announced themselves to the NBA world in a major way, taking down the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers with a Game 5 win.
Tyrese Haliburton and company took statement after statement, including his own version of Stephen Curry's “night night,” and after the game, the team has every receipt from along the way, with Myles Turner blasting the doubters online who dared to pick against the Pacers.
Asked about his experience coaching the Pacers to victory against a Cleveland crowd who battled them as hard as their beloved Cavs, head coach Rick Carlisle broke down the situation, noting that the arena was “lit,” but they didn't allow that to set the tone for the contest.




“I mean, this crowd is not, you know, this crowd is off the hook. It's just, and at the beginning of the game, they turned the decibels up there,” Carlisle declared. “You know, I've been here in here enough times, I know when they're turning that thing up a little bit and, you know, this place was lit, you know, so this was a tough environment, but our guys use the noise and the commotion to narrow their focus and that's what you got to do in these big moments in these big games.”
Was the game “lit,” as the 65-year-old born in 1959 boldly declared? Yeah, you know, that's actually a pretty good way of putting it, as the crowd in Cleveland really wanted to see their guys pull out the win and were crushed when things didn't shake out that way. But Carlisle's Pacers wanted to secure the win too, and they were able to put their best foot forward on the way to another Eastern Conference finals appearance. That's pretty “lit” too, as Carlisle would certainly declare.
"This crowd was off the hook… This place was lit. This was a tough environment. But our guys used the noise and commotion to narrow their focus."
Rick Carlisle on how the Pacers clinched the series in a tough road environment 🗣️
(via @NBA)pic.twitter.com/gnCHQHf6p2
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 14, 2025