Why Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle Took Full Blame For Game 1 Loss To Celtics

BOSTON — Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle saw the path to closing out the Boston Celtics in the final seconds of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals and earn a stunning victory.

But Carlisle didn’t see that avenue in the moment and lamented that after the Celtics prevailed with a 133-128 win in overtime at TD Garden to take a 1-0 series lead.

Carlisle was upset with himself for not stepping in and calling a timeout with 8.1 seconds left in regulation as the Pacers tried to inbound the ball in the backcourt. Indiana ended up committing a turnover, which set up Jaylen Brown to knock down a clutch game-tying 3-pointer to ultimately force overtime.

“I loved the way our guys fought in this game,” Carlisle said. “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. It didn’t happen and 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.”

Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton wouldn’t let Carlisle take the blame for the defeat. Haliburton, who scored a team-high 25 points but made a couple of unforced miscues when he turned the ball over at critical points in the fourth quarter and overtime, pointed the finger at himself.

“That’s not on him,” Haliburton said. “That’s us as players we got to 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 understand that he’s protecting us, protecting me as well. But I’ll take that more than he should. I got to be better and I will be better in Game 2 and we’ll respond the right way.”

Carlisle was also involved in another highly debated decision, which NBA superstar LeBron James even second-guessed. The Pacers didn’t foul before Brown got his clutch shot off, but Carlisle said he instructed his team to do so.

That situation might not be one Carlisle, but he certainly feels the Pacers wouldn’t have even been in that position if he had just taken matters into his own hands moments prior.