Numbers don’t always tell the full story and that’s certainly true for the Game 2 between the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks. The Knicks won 130-121, extending their lead in the series to 2-0. Pacers on the other hand are really struggling to get themselves on the board in the series.
According to Paul Pierce, he has figured out where the easily identifiable problem lies within the Pacers organization but in his opinion, their head coach Rick Carlisle is ignoring it.
On the recent episode of UNDISPUTED, Pierce blasted the Pacers coach for not improving his team despite back-to-back losses. The Pacers were not the strongest contenders coming into the postseason, but everyone gave them a fair chance because they have a young team with Tyrese Haliburton’s court vision.
As it turns out, the Pacers are a weaker team compared to the Knicks, and Jalen Brunson and Co. are exposing their flaws.
But it’s not just the opposition who is strong, as per Pierce, Carlisle is also to be blamed for the failure so far. He said, “Rick Carlisle is getting outcoached. If you don’t make adjustments, you’ll get swept.” The NBA veteran believes that if the Pacers learned anything from the Knicks-76ers series, they’d know that the Knicks’ biggest advantage is rebounding.
Despite having a relatively small lineup, Knicks’ Josh Hart was the catalyst for their win over the 76ers, as he was vital on the offensive board. According to Pierce, if Carlisle focused on that, his team could’ve restricted them in the first two games.
Now, six players from the Pacers registered points in double digits. Haliburton dropped 34 points with six rebounds and nine assists, but somehow, they managed to waste all of the efforts. According to Pierce, Haliburton not being aggressive in the second half cost them the game.
He said, “He looks like All-Star one half and then he just feels like he forgets that he is the star of the team.”
Fortunately, it’s still not very late and they can bounce back from this position but considering how the Pacers have failed to make any change in the first two games, their chance of getting swept is just as much alive.
Their problems get worse when we take a look at the internal issues that they’re dealing with because the whole squad is not on the same page.
The Indiana Pacers have some internal issues to deal with
This is the worst time in the season to have internal conflicts but as it turns out, the Pacers are dealing with it right now. After losing Game 2 to the Knicks, Carlisle said, “There were 29 plays in Game 1 that we thought were clearly called the wrong way. I decided not to submit them because I just felt like, you know, we’d get a more balanced whistle tonight. It didn’t feel that way.”
The coach even labeled his team as a “Small market” who deserve equal treatment regardless of where they play. It seems like TJ McConnell isn’t comfortable calling his team a small market team and he definitely isn’t looking to put the blame on others.
He said, “We’re not going to sit here and blame officials. We gotta be better. It’s just that simple.”
It’s rarely a good sign when the coach and players are not on the same wavelength. The Pacers fans would pray that this was a minor misunderstanding that wouldn’t go out of control during the Conference Semifinals series.
