The Indiana Pacers lost in a heart breaking way Saturday night, 114-111, as they are now down 0-3 in the series to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, do not tell them they are down and out as Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle is adamant about his team's chances heading into Game 4.
Game 3 was definitely the most frustrating game of the season for Indiana as they controlled most of the game against the top team record-wise, even leading by as much as 18 points. This was also without the Pacers top star in Tyrese Haliburton who was dealing with a hamstring injury as his status for Game 4 is still in doubt, but Carlisle made a promise saying they are “going after them” in referencing the Celtics according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
“We got the best fans in the NBA here, we’ve got the greatest basketball building on the planet, and we’ve got another game in front of (Indiana fans) to go after these guys,” Carlisle said. “And believe me when I tell you we are going after them.”
Pacers will be “undeterred” down 0-3 per Carlisle
While the confidence and sense of urgency could be at unlimited heights, history is vastly against the Pacers as there has never been a basketball team in the NBA to come back from a 0-3 series deficit. One team came close last season as it was the Celtics who won three straight against the Miami Heat being down in the conference finals last season, but lost in Game 7.
“We’re going to be undeterred,” Carlisle said. “We’re going to be back here Monday night, looking to extend the series, and we’re going to come at them even harder.”
Another reason Carlisle could have been even more motivated is that the ending of the game saw a major disagreement with the officiating crew during a crucial play with 3.3 seconds left. Pacers star Andrew Nembhard took the ball up the court as they were down one point, but the ball was stolen by Celtics guard Jrue Holiday as Carlisle was outraged a foul was not called with his player on the ground.
“I just rewatched the ending, so you don’t need to remind me — I saw everything that happened,” Carlisle said. “There were a lot of things out there I disagreed with that I think any Indiana fan would disagree with.”
Carlisle talks controversial plays towards the end of game
A slightly similar situation happened in Game 1 where the Pacers had a chance to to call timeout, but let the play run its course as the ball was turned over, both times with Holiday guarding as he forced Haliburton and Nembhard to make a mistake.
“Well, you know, with eight or nine seconds left and you're in transition after a miss, I trust our players to be able to create a better shot than calling timeout and having them set their defense, run our end of game stuff on their video to show their players,” Carlisle said after the game, showing the confidence he has in his players. “It's more of a play basketball type situation. We've done well this year trusting our players.”
Even as Holiday got fouled and hit his free throws to make it a three-point lead for Boston, the Pacers still had a timeout with just under two seconds left to run a play and had a chance to send the game in to overtime. The start of the play almost looked like a football alignment with all of the players lined up like they were about to run a route as Aaron Nesmith found an open lane, attempted a tough but open shot and missed.
“I mean, we’ve had (the play) for a while … do you want me to just hand you our playbook,” Carlisle said. “It’s a play that was conceived by (Pacers assistant coach) Mike Weinar, who came up with it. We’ve used it a couple of times over the last couple of years and gotten pretty good looks on it. If the same situation happens next game, we’ll use something a little bit different and hope we get the same kind of look.”
Pacers with some standout performances despite the loss
If there was a bright spot to the game, it was that in trying to fill the void of Haliburton, Nembhard took the opportunity and ran away with it as he had the best game of his young career. He would score 32 points, making 12 of his 21 shot attempts from the field to go along with nine assists.
Pascal Siakam would also have 22 points, but one of the other players playing a big factor with the Haliburton injury is back up point guard T.J. McConnell who had another solid game. He scored 23 points, collected nine rebounds, and recorded six assists as he was once again a thorn on the side of the Celtics as he always had the major respect from his coach.
“He’s always gonna play like he hasn’t fully proven it yet,” Carlisle said before Game 3 via The Athletic. “That’s just how his makeup is. That’s how his internal motor and the fire he has inside of him operates. … He’s always gonna keep fighting like it was Day 1. That’s what makes him special.”
Pacers have not “packed it in”
While these were all great performances, it still resulted in the Pacers losing the game, one that they had firmly in their grasps. Even though it is a massive hole to get out of, Indiana is not ready for their season to end as McConnell said that there is “no guy in this locker room that's packed it in.”
“Obviously, this one stings, but there’s no guy in this locker room that’s packed it in,” McConnell said. “We’re gonna try to get one here and extend this series and then go back to Boston and try to make things difficult. But there’s no guy in this locker room that’s gonna quit.”
In any sense, the Pacers will try to save their season and avoid getting swept Monday night as they look to beat the Celtics on their own home floor for Game 4. One still has to wonder if Haliburton will be available for the outing, but according to Adrian Wojnarowksi of ESPN, “his availability for that game also remains in serious question, sources tell ESPN. Pacers will err on side of caution with their franchise star.”
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