Pacers' Rick Carlisle sends strong warning to Boston Celtics before Game 4
The Boston Celtics were able to hand the Indiana Pacers their first loss at home this postseason at the expense of a 114-111 score. It was a game that had Coach Carlisle's team written all over it, holding a lead of 18 points at one point. But it was a motivated Joe Mazzulla team that was able to regroup and come back, resulting in a commanding 3-0 series lead.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Pacers' head coach sat down with the media and had a couple of words to say in regards to looking ahead to what's next.
“Believe me when I tell you, we are going after them,” Carlisle said (h/t The Athletic). “We’re going to be undeterred. We’re going to be back here Monday night, looking to extend the series, and we’re going to come at them even harder."
Based on the final score, you would think that the Pacers were at full strength; however, that was not the case at all. The absence of All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton led second-year Andrew Nembhard to step up.
Nembhard did exactly that.
The former Gonzaga Bulldog had by far his best performance, putting up 32 points, four rebounds, and nine assists. Nembhard was electric, carrying the Pacers to a potential victory.
Anyway, his counterpart, Jrue Holiday, had a crucial defensive stop, forcing a turnover and eventually getting fouled, sending him to the free-throw line as the score stood at 112-111.
That was the play of the game, without a doubt.
What else did the Indiana Pacers' head coach say to the media following his team's Game 3 loss to the Boston Celtics?
Coach Carlisle said he does not need to be reminded about what happened during the final five minutes of regulation time. He states that he has already "rewatched the ending."
“I just rewatched the ending, so you don’t need to remind me — I saw everything that happened," Carlisle prefaced before saying, "There were a lot of things out there I disagreed with that I think any Indiana fan would disagree with.”
The comments show that the 64-year-old coach has a lot of determination to be better and prepare his team for Game 4; his one last shot at keeping their season alive.
In case you forgot, Carlisle won an NBA Championship with the Dallas Mavericks back in 2011 taking down the Miami Heat's big three featuring Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and of course, LeBron James. At the forefront was one of the NBA's greatest—Dirk Nowitzki, alongside Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, J.J. Barea, Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood, and more.
His roster was loaded, to say the least.
His current roster? Not so much. The Pacers need many things to swing their way during this next game if they want a shot at reaching the NBA Finals.
Fortunately, they're in good hands, but so are the Celtics, with the likes of Coach Mazzulla and his stars, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Holiday.