NBA

Indiana coach Rick Carlisle conquers his 900th victory after beating San Antonio by 41 points

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What a way to celebrate your 900th-career victory! Legendary coach Rick Carlisle achieved this impressive milestone after beating Gregg Popovich and the Spurs by a blowout 41-point victory in Indiana

The Pacers were led by Tyrese Haliburton, who scored 23 points and inspired Monday’s 152-111 success over the Spurs. This means that Carlisle is now second of active coaches in wins, and defeated none other than the all-time leader who has 1,369 victories to his name.

“I told Pop after the game that I’m very grateful for him,” the Indiana trainer revealed. “He was a mentor to me before I got a head coaching job. When I was here as an assistant, I didn’t get the job after Larry (Brown) left. Pop called me up and invited me to come down to San Antonio’s training camp. … It was a big confidence-builder for me. He’s been wonderful to so many young coaches.”

As for the San Antonio Hall of Famer, he also mentioned his fellow coach’s triumph. “I did congratulate him,” Popovich said.

The Pacers honored Carlisle by winning in style, and tying the franchise record for most points in a single match. After the game, the players doused him with water in the locker room. “I wouldn’t call it pouring,” the coach said with a smile. “It just came from every direction.”

Over his two stints with in Indiana, the 64-year-old reached 245 wins for his current team. However, his biggest achievement came during his time in Dallas, where he conquered 555 matches in 13 seasons and won his only championship as coach in 2011. He also won 100 contests with the Pistons.

“Congrats to him,” said Spurs’ Doug McDermott, who played under Carlisle the last two seasons. “I wish it wasn’t against us in that fashion. But he deserves the praise. He’s a hell of a coach.”

Coach Popovich admitted that the Pacers ‘kicked their butts’ and deserve credit for their blowout victory

At one point in the game, San Antonio were trailing by 44 points just as Indiana had connected their 12th three-pointer of the contest. This time around, French sensation Victor Wembanyama only dropped in 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“I think they (Pacers) kicked our butts. They deserve credit. I think the only guys on our team were Keldon and Zach who showed consistent, decent play, and competitiveness. They did a good job jumping on us. That’s about it,” Popovich mentioned Johnson’s 16 points and Collins’ 14 and 5 rebounds.

McDermott, who led the Spurs in points with 17 off the bench, admitted his former team were blessed with efficient shooting this Monday.

“I think it was one of those games where you got to give them a lot of credit. They made a lot of shots. Part of it was on us. The way we were getting back and giving them those easy ones. I think we need to learn from this one,” he said.