Pacers take ownership for Game 1 finish rather than speaking out, blaming officials

Myles Turner wants the players to decide the game. And Jalen Brunson kind of did, outscoring the Pacers in crunch time. Tyrese Haliburton has to elevate his play in Game 2 on Wednesday.

Unlike previous Pacer head coaches before him, Rick Carlisle did not choose to send a message.

Frank Vogel, in 2012 before facing the Miami Heat, came out with a loud statement before the series even began. “They are the biggest flopping team in the NBA,” he said. “It’ll be very interesting to see how the referees officiate the series and how much flopping they reward.”

Nate McMillan, as Hawks interim head coach in 2021, repeated the message shared with the team to reporters before facing the Knicks. “Basically, I've gone as far as saying the league wants this," he said. “They need this, New York, this is a big market for the league, and New York has been out of the playoffs for a number of years.”

In what appeared to be a decisive move, Carlisle kept the frustration internal rather than going hard with public criticism of the game officials.

With a young and inexperienced team, having the right message is even more important. Yes, they got hit with several tough calls late in their Game 1 loss in New York, but it was on the team for not handling their business — something that was in their control.

“I don't want to talk about the officiating,” said Carlisle, who is also the president of the National Basketball Coaches Association. “We're not expecting to get calls in here. It'd be nice if they laid off that one. But they didn't.”

The call he’s specifically referencing above was the moving screen whistled on Myles Turner.

The Pacers led 109-104 with 4:27 to play. They had taken the lead with about three minutes remaining in the third quarter, but the Knicks were able to hang around.

And then over the final four minutes, the Pacers were outscored 17-8 as Jalen Brunson scored 21 of his 43 points in the fourth.

There was a Brunson foul on Turner that was reversed via challenge, a kickball on Aaron Nesmith that wasn’t, and then Turner was whistled for a moving screen 45 feet from the basket with 12.7 seconds left in a one-point game.

“Just in my experience in this league, I think it's the best when the players decide the outcome of the game,” Turner told reporters postgame. “I think it's unfortunate that it happened. We reviewed it. They still called it a legal screen. But it's the playoffs, man.