Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

NBA Legend Brutally Rips Into Pacers’ Coach Rick Carlisle

Originally posted on NBA Analysis Network
By Evan Massey | Last updated 5/9/24

The Indiana Pacers and head coach Rick Carlisle have gotten fed up with the way their current playoff series against the New York Knicks has been officiated. Following their brutal Game 2 loss last night, Carlisle put the refs on blast and the team sent a list of calls that they deemed wrong to the NBA overnight.

While there is no question that the referees have been rough throughout the first two games of the series, Carlisle also hasn’t been making great decisions from a coaching standpoint.

NBA legend Paul Pierce took the time to speak out about Carlisle and his decision making. He bluntly stated that Carlisle is being out-coached by Tom Thibodeau in the series.

“I think Rick Carlisle is being outcoached. The playoffs are about making adjustments.”

Here is the full clip of Pierce talking about Carlisle and how the series has gone thus far.

“Rick Carlisle is getting outcoached. If you don’t make adjustments, you’ll get swept.”@PaulPierce34 on Pacers dropping Game 2 pic.twitter.com/SjRMbYVOi1
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) May 9, 2024

What’s Next For Rick Carlisle And The Indiana Pacers?

Honestly, there is a very good reasoning behind what Pierce had to say. One of the biggest signs of a mistake came down the stretch in Game 2.

Jalen Brunson had his way with young Pacers’ guard Andrew Nembhard all game long. However, Brunson had more difficulty scoring against veteran guard T.J. McConnell. Despite that fact, Carlisle refused to put McConnell back in the game in the closing minutes and allowed Brunson to continually burn his defense with no changes being made.

Carlisle has also received criticism from fans and the media about his rotations throughout the playoffs. Even against the Bucks, Carlisle seemed to be coaching games like it was the regular season. Granted, the Pacers’ bench has been good, but there are times where Indiana has had momentum and start pulling away, just for Carlisle to take the group out and lose momentum.

One thing is for sure, which is the fact that the Pacers are close to seeing their season slip away from them. Honestly, Indiana should be up 2-0 in this series, but they have let games get away from them. Whether it be due to questionable coaching decisions, a lack of rebounding, or star players not stepping up, everything has gone bad.

It will be interesting to see what changes, if any, are made for Game 3 from the Indiana Pacers. Rick Carlisle is clearly upset with the officials, but he needs to figure out a way to make some tweaks and changes to the game plan in order to get his team a much-needed win back home in Indiana.

This article first appeared on NBA Analysis Network and was syndicated with permission.

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