The Indiana Pacers find themselves in deep waters after falling 0-3 in their first-round playoffs series against the Miami Heat.
However, Pacers head coach Nate McMillan wondered about some of the calls made in their latest game and couldn't find an explanation to how the Heat managed to attempt a “ridiculous” 52 free throws in their 124-115 Game 3 loss.
“I can't explain that,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said after the game (via Tim Bontempts of ESPN). “I mean, 52 free throws is ridiculous. They had 24 at the half, Butler shoots 20 of them … this is the playoffs, and I thought some of those calls were … I can't explain it.”
Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler attempted nearly 40 percent of Miami's free throws on Saturday, going 17-of-20 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Bam Adebayo also shot 8-of-9 from the foul line. All in all, the Heat made 43 of their 52 free throws in Game 3.
To their credit, Miami did take advantage of their opportunities and knocked down a good percentage their freebies.
Indiana, on the one hand, shot just 28 times from the free throw line and converted 21.
Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon also noticed the wide disparity in foul shots, thinking it could be because of the officials or their lack of aggressiveness overall. Nonetheless, the Pacers cannot simply point to the free throw disparity for finding themselves in an insurmountable hole.
Indiana looked dead in the water after trailing by 18 points at the end of the first half. After talking things through and making adjustments at the intermission, the Pacers used a 34-20 3rd quarter to cut the lead to four. However, poor execution did not help them down the stretch.
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