INDIANKeynote USAOLIS – With the Indiana Pacers trailing the Boston Celtics 3-0 in the Eastern Conference finals, thanks to two blown leads late in two games, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle vowed revenge Saturday night.
“Believe me when I tell you we’re going after them,” Carlisle said of the Celtics after Boston stole a 114-111 victory from the Pacers in the final seconds of Game 3.
Carlisle said the Pacers would “go to” or “after” Boston on at least three occasions, adding that they would “hit even harder” in Game 4 on Monday in Indianapolis.
No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 deficit, and the Pacers could easily be ahead 2-1 in this series if not for some serious mistakes late in the game.
“We are not going to be intimidated,” he said. “We’ll be back here Monday night, looking to extend the series, and we’ll attack them even harder.”
Carlisle was delayed from taking the podium at Gainbridge Fieldhouse after his team suffered a crushing loss in which they led by as many as 18 points and by eight with just 2 minutes, 38 seconds remaining. Their best player, Tyrese Haliburton, was out with a hamstring injury and Andrew Nembhard, one of his role players, had the game of his life.
But Nembhard was robbed by Jrue Holiday with 3.3 seconds left and the Pacers trailing by one. The steal occurred near the Pacers’ foul line and Nembhard ended up on the ground.
Carlisle was incensed, demanding a foul be called in real time and then, as play was stopped, to review a foul the Pacers committed after the steal. He snapped.
“I just re-watched the ending, so you don’t need to remind me: I saw everything that happened,” Carlisle said. “There were a lot of things I didn’t agree with and I think any Indiana fan would disagree.”
When a reporter began to follow up, Carlisle interrupted: “everything, everything that happened.”
Holiday, who was listed as “questionable” to play due to a fever but finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals, scored the final five points and picked Nembhard to secure the victory. He said the theft from him was clean.
“I think, from my perspective, I thought I was ahead of him,” Holiday said. “If anything, we were neck and neck. And then the ball came out, it was just a little hit on his left hand. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I need to look at it again, but I didn’t think there was that much contact. But everything happened very quickly.”
A crucial turnover in the final seconds of Game 1 cost the Pacers a chance to win in regulation and they fell in overtime. In that game, Carlisle said he made a mistake by not calling a timeout to advance the ball, which would have given his team better angles to get the ball in, draw a foul and win.
Carlisle could have called a timeout with Nembhard running down the court against Holiday, but said he didn’t do it this time because “with 8 or 9 seconds left, and you’re in transition after a miss, I’m confident our players will be able to create a better opportunity than calling a timeout and having them set up their defense, play our end-of-game footage on their video and show it to their players.
“It’s more of a basketball game situation, and this year we’ve done well by trusting our players.”
Nembhard scored a career-high 32 points (regular or postseason) with nine assists while his usual defense partner, Haliburton, was out. TJ McConnell scored 23 points off the bench and Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner added 22 points each.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 36 points, 10 rebounds and no turnovers. Jaylen Brown scored 24 points and Al Horford added 23 points with 7 three-pointers.
After Holiday made two free throws with 1.7 seconds left, Carlisle still had that timeout and used it to advance the ball on a final play. Nembhard was the attacker and his four teammates lined up in the defensive zone like wide receivers on a football field, in open formation. The play is designed to prevent the defense from committing a foul before a three-point shot can be attempted, and it almost worked.
Aaron Nesmith made a football-style play and broke into the corner, but missed his 3-point attempt.
“I mean, we’ve had (the play) for a while…do you want me to 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 few years and it looks pretty good. If the same situation happens next game, we’ll use something a little different and hope to get the same type of look.”
There are doubts that Haliburton, who was injured in Game 2, can return from his hamstring strain for Game 4 on Monday.
“We have the best fans in the NBA here, we have the best basketball building on the planet and we have another game in front of (Indiana fans) to chase these guys,” Carlisle said. “And believe me when I tell you that we are going to come after you.”
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