The Indiana Pacers lost in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics in what ended up being in heartbreaking fashion, 133-128. Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton spoke after the game to the media about the overtime loss and the one play that he is going back to in his mind that could have changed the trajectory of the outing Tuesday night.
At the end of regulation after Celtics star Jaylen Brown hit a three-point shot to tie the game at 117 after a costly Pacers turnover, they still had a chance to win the game and upset the No.1 seed on their own home floor of TD Garden. The ball was inbounded to Haliburton, but tried and failed to get any leverage leading to an attempted three-point shot that was off-balance and blocked.
The idea to give the ball to Haliburton was the right idea as he made two previous buzzer-beater shots at halftime and the third period where it was from three-point range, but this time it wasn't executed well as the star couldn't get a good look at the rim. When speaking to the media after the game, the 24-year old talked about that specific play and said it has been “replayed in my head a hundred times already” according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
“That’s replayed in my head a hundred times already and it’ll replay after I get out of here, but I can’t dwell on it,” Haliburton said. “I felt like that was probably the look for me to shoot and wish I did, but I didn’t.”
Haliburton talks about the several backbreaking Pacers turnovers
It's utterly unfortunate for the Pacers star since he had a solid game where he scored 25 points, recorded 10 assists, and had three steals, but his performance will be known for the three turnovers he had, one at the worst time. Before the attempt at another buzzer-beater, Haliburton had a chance to set up a play and extend Indiana's three-point lead, but would bounce the ball off his foot and cause another turnover as he called those plays “frustrating.”
“I don’t know, there was like three different occasions where I dribbled the ball off my foot today,” Haliburton said. “I don’t know what happened. It’s frustrating because that’s not something that happens normally for me and nobody forced it, I just dribbled the ball off my foot. So (it’s) frustrating, to say the least, but I’ll learn from it, and I’ll be better in Game 2.”
Haliburton talks about facing Jrue Holiday in overtime
On the whole, the Pacers had 21 turnovers which when facing a team like the Celtics, it's a recipe for disaster as a bad inbounds pass led to the three-point shot from Brown that tied up the game. Then when the game went into overtime, the Celtics would take control taking a one-point lead when Haliburton committed another turnover with about a minute left where the defense of Jrue Holiday got to him.
“I mean, he’s the best defender in NBA. He has been for a long time,” Haliburton said of the turnover against Holiday. “I was trying to get him as far to the left wing as I could, so I could come downhill to my right. And I had the spin to set it up and I just dribbled it off my foot.
“So it’s unfortunate,” Haliburton continued. “It’s frustrating, for sure, but it happens. We make mistakes. We’re human. And I’ll learn from it and I’ll be better in Game 2.”
Rick Carlisle blames Pacers loss on himself
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle also spoke after the frustrating effort in Game 1 and put the defeat on himself where he said when the team had the lead towards the end of regulation, he should have called timeout. He would also talk about the constant mistakes and turnovers that defined the game, but also advocating that they will be back with a vengeance for Game 2.
“This loss is totally on me. With 10 seconds in regulation, we should have just taken the timeout, advanced the ball and found a way to get it in and made a free throw or two and ended the game,” Carlisle said. “But it didn't happen. We made some other mistakes. But our guys just need to concentrate on fighting the way they fought in this game from start to finish and we'll be back Thursday.”
“We had a lot of turnovers that would be hard to explain,” Carlisle said of the turnovers. “I think they're a great defensive team, they got great defenders — individual and team defenders — but they're not a team who forces a ton of turnovers,” Haliburton said. “They're a solid team. I just felt like more of them were probably on us than them.”
Haliburton says he should take more blame than Carlisle
If there is one bright side from the loss, it's that Indiana doesn't deal with pointing the finger at anybody as everyone took accountability. When Haliburton heard that his head coach took the blame, he refuted saying that it is not on him, but on himself and the rest of the players according to James Herbert of CBS Sports.
“That's not on him,” Haliburton said. “Us as players, we gotta do a better job. I had two bad turnovers that I feel like cost us the game, one in the fourth and one in overtime. I know, I understand he's protecting us, protecting me as well, but I'll take that more than he should, I gotta be better and I will be better in Game 2 and we'll respond the right way.”
Haliburton believes Pacers “can play” with the Celtics
Another aspect from the Pacers' performance is that they caused a lot of trouble to the Celtics in Game 1 where the top seed would usually dominate. Even Haliburton would say confidently that they “know we belong” alongside Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals, but acknowledging that they need to be better for a hopeful strong outing in Game 2.
“We know we can play with these guys,” Haliburton said via The Athletic. “We know we belong. I think it’s discouraging just because of the plays that that happened down the stretch. We feel like we were in position to win the game and just didn’t win the game.
“But what I will say is encouraging is we have been trash in Game 1s. First series and second series,” Haliburton continued. “And today we played great for about 47 minutes, just didn’t sustain it for 48. So, we’ll go back, watch the film. There will be good, there will be bad. And we’ll learn from it. And we will be a lot better in Game 2.”
The Pacers are now down 0-1 in the series against the Celtics where they will look to bounce back in Game 2 which takes place Thursday night.
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