Coach Rick Carlisle openly asks NBA officials to give his Pacers a ‘fair shot’

After Indiana‘s 130-121 Game 2 loss against the Knicks this Wednesday night, the organization has decided to publicly make officiating an issue. According to coach Rick Carlisle, too many calls have been made against them so far in this Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The team had already shown their disgust with referees after their defeat in Game 1, and by the end of last night’s match, the Pacers tactician lost his patience and shouted at the referees. By this point, he had abandoned strategy and simply voiced out his frustrations.

His actions resulted in two technical fouls and was finally ejected, as he had been visibly upset about several calls in the fourth quarter, especially when the officials reversed a double-dribble call that could’ve given Indiana a crucial possession when the game was still contested.

“Their physicality is rewarded & ours is penalized”

Rick Carlisle is unhappy with the officiating through 2 gamespic.twitter.com/DQe6V2iC3d

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 9, 2024

The tactician confronted the press after Game 2 and said that his organisation has identified at least 29 questionable calls that were made against them on Monday night’s Game 1, but hadn’t sent the information to the NBA yet. He then promised to do the same thing with Wednesday’s match and will be sending it for review.

“I decided not to submit them because I just felt like we’d get a more balanced whistle tonight. It didn’t feel that way,” Carlisle explained. “I’m always talking to our guys about not making it about the officials, but we deserve a fair shot.”

As part of NBA protocol, the edits will also be seen by the Knicks. “I can promise you that we’re going to submit these tonight,” Carlisle said after being ejected. “New York can get ready. They’ll see ’em too.”

The Pacers coach insisted that these calls are made unfairly because the NBA want to favour big-market teams like the Knicks. “Small-market teams deserve an equal shot,” Rick expressed. “They deserve a fair shot no matter where they’re playing.”

Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton believes that his team also hasn’t been playing at their best, and can’t pin their losses only on officiating

Even though his entire team organised itself to blame referees for their latest defeats, Tyrese Haliburton couldn’t help but admit that they’ve been playing poorly and the Knicks have been inspired. Just last night, their rivals erased a 10-point deficit by outscoring the Pacers 36-18 behind Jalen Brunson’s return at halftime.

“Let’s not pretend like [officiating] is the only reason we lost; we just didn’t play good enough,” said the Indiana guard, who dropped in 34 points after only hitting 6 in Game 1. “We just got to be better.”

Carlisle has also been seeing making some interesting rotations, like T.J. McConnell’s participation in Wednesday’s loss. The player, who had a plus-10 plus/minus in Game 2, supported his coach’s decision of giving him his chance.

“Rick is a Hall of Fame coach and has been doing this for a long time, so the rotations that he plays, we trust that they’re the right ones, and I fully support him,” McConnell shared. “Whenever my number is called, I’ll be ready, and if that means I have to be over on the bench supporting my team.”