A veteran coach is the ideal salve for any roster wounds. With head coach Rick Carlisle at the helm, an NBA team overcame a series deficit to win the Finals. It’s a storybook ending against an all-time great team.
Oh, wait a minute; that was in 2011 when Carlisle was in Dallas, and the Mavericks, a team full of basketball veterans hungry for their first title, won the NBA championship.
But fast-forward to 2024. A member of those same 2011 Mavericks, Jason Kidd, has now coached Dallas to a 3-0 lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves, just one game away from the NBA Finals, and the Pacers are down 3-0 to the Boston Celtics.
It would be a fantastic story to have Kidd’s old coach oppose him. Unfortunately, Carlisle’s Indiana Pacers look nothing like the current — or former — Mavericks.
Pacers Malfunction
The Pacers, despite their current struggles, are a team with a promising future. They have a roster filled with young, up-and-coming players still gaining valuable experience in the NBA playoffs. The addition of former NBA champion Pascal Siakam has bolstered their experience deficit. They also had an impressive run to the NBA In-Season Tournament Final, showcasing their potential.
While the playoffs — and Celtics — have revealed some weaknesses, it’s important to remember that these games are learning experiences for the team.
Carlisle was brought in to build a team identity and add a postseason coaching edge. It took time to develop, but the trade for Tyrese Haliburton sprouted an offense that ran up the scoreboard every game. Carlisle’s background as a defensive expert also translated to the Pacers holding their own on defense (12th in the regular season).
However, something strange has happened in the 2024 playoffs.
Out Of Sorts
After the Pacers’ surprise victory over the division rival Milwaukee Bucks, the offensive engine started sputtering, particularly when closing out games. It was difficult to tell when the team averaged 115 points per game in the Knicks series, but the late-game execution has been a disaster.
Carlisle has taken the blame for the gaffes in postgame interviews, but it’s alarming to see those issues manifest during playoff games: poor shot selection, turnovers, and an inability to make an inbound pass. Those blunders should’ve been ironed out long before the conference finals.
In Game 7 of the Knicks series, Indiana finally played like themselves, but they coughed up two conference finals games in the closing minutes. The team consists mostly of young players, so everyone is looking at you, Rick Carlisle.
3 Losses, 3 Reasons
There are many reasons why the Pacers are now down 3-0 and ostensibly eliminated (at the time of publishing).
Reason No. 1 is simply the class separation between the Celtics and the Pacers.
Boston, Milwaukee, and Miami Heat are the three teams that have dominated the conference recently; the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks bring up the rear in terms of aspiring contenders. Neither has made a conference finals appearance in over 20 years.
The rest of the Eastern Conference is represented by also-rans and one-offs. The Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Orlando Magic are in that category, a dangerous middle ground the Pacers are desperately trying to avoid.
Reason No. 2 is the need for more responsible ballhandling and decision-making.
Carlisle might lament the late-game play execution and his own failure to call timeouts, but the players are the ones on the court. They must make intelligent decisions, protect the basketball, refrain from relying on referees to bail them out, and stop abandoning offensive principles when the game gets tight.
Reason No. 3 is a terrible reason.
Blaming the team’s youth and inexperience seems safe given the wars that have battle-tested the Celtics, but that’s assuming anyone expects the Pacers to reach this level again over the next few years. Indiana is not a free-agent destination, and only Haliburton receives national praise.
Rick Carlisle has a proven track record of winning against juggernaut teams, but he’ll likely be given more time to prove it again in Indiana.
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Photo Credit for featured cover image: Getty Images.
