Pacers coach Rick Carlisle downplayed some controversial calls in Game 1 of his team’s series against the Knicks, saying “We’re not expecting to get calls in here (at Madison Square Garden).”
He struck a much different tone during and after Indiana’s Game 2 loss on Wednesday. Carlisle was ejected late in the fourth quarter of the Pacers’ 130-121 loss, then ripped the officiating in the postgame press conference, claiming that “small-market teams” don’t get a fair shake.
“Small-market teams deserve an equal shot,” Carlisle said, per Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “They deserve a fair shot no matter where they’re playing.”
Carlisle pointed out a number of instances where he felt his team got an unfavorable whistle or a no-call on a Knicks foul.
“I’m always talking to our guys about not making it about the officials,” Carlisle said. “But we deserve a fair shot. There’s not a consistent balance, and that’s disappointing. Give New York credit for the physicality that they’re playing with. But their physicality is rewarded and ours is penalized. Time after time. I’m just really disappointed.”
The Pacers have submitted 78 plays to the league, covering the first two games, that they felt were incorrectly called, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports. That includes 49 calls from Wednesday’s contest. As part of NBA protocol, the clips will also be shared with the Knicks.
We have more on the Pacers:
- While Carlisle and the Pacers front office may be incensed with the officiating, their players were less critical. “Let’s not pretend like [officiating] is the only reason we lost. We just didn’t play good enough,” Tyrese Haliburton said, according to Windhorst. “We just got to be better.”
- T.J. McConnell said afterward in a video posted by SNY TV (Twitter link), “We love Rick showing that type of energy on the court, but that’s not the feeling that we have in the locker room. We’re not going to sit here and blame officials. We gotta be better. It’s just that simple.”
- One very positive development for the Pacers was the play of Haliburton. After scoring just six points in Game 1, the All-Star guard poured in a game-high 34 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including 7-of-11 on three-point attempts, Brian Lewis of the New York Post notes. “I just shot more shots, took what the defense gave me,” he said.
- Meanwhile, Myles Turner pulled a disappearing act, Peter Botte of the New York Post points out. The Pacers’ starting center was held to six points and was minus-21 in 31 minutes after scoring 23 points in Game 1.
It’s getting really pathetic to just blame the officiating. And it’s taking away from the enjoyment of the game. Glad the pacers players didn’t follow suit. Always going to be bad calls but in the end it probably evens out, but the winning team isn’t going to go submit an officiating report.
Problem is, as you said, “in the end it probably evens out”.
“Officiating 301”
The act of screwing a team throughout a game and then evening it out at the end when it’s too late for them to win.
Happens at every level.
Lmao. It doesn’t matter if it evens out.
The officials.need to understand nobody is coming to see them ref a game. Stop making it about themselves instead of the players.
Every single game, these officials impact the outcome by making either the wrong or incorrect calls.
They want robo umps in baseball, but honestly we need it in basketball. This has easily been the worst season of officiating in NBA History
Brutal officiating on obvious calls as Brunson elbows his way to infamy ? Yes who wants to see Indiana or Utah .
There are just too many things for the officials to look for in a sped-up pace nowadays. Too many foul calls is what’s hurting the game IMO, Chased. Let the players play and let the players be the ones to dictate the pace of the game. Everyone in their right mind is disgraced by the Lakers’ FT discrepancy over the last two years. I say eliminate the cop-out defender-taking-a-charge call unless, say, the defender(s) is outnumbered during a fast break. On the other hand, give guys who are honestly trying to play defense some space to work with – no more calling a foul on the defender just because he puts his arms up while the offensive player is the one making the contact. No whistle should be blown. And likewise when a player goes up for a layup/dunk and the defender happens to graze/make contact with his offhand/arm. Lessen the ticky-tack fouls and only look for the blatant stuff; shouldn’t be that hard to implement.
You want to remove the principal of verticality. Wont Dickie V be upset?
The officiating itself is pathetic and ruining the games.
More importantly, at the end of the day the league already has in place the rules it needs to significantly improve officiating; it just refuses to wield them.
Offense push-offs, flops…all of that stuff could be cleaned up if the league simply reviewed the footage from every single game for violations and enforced them, whether that be via fines or a technical-type system. It would be a straightforward process, cost effective, and would not increase game times. What’s not to like?
Of course, this isn’t just about Silver. I have a strong feeling it’s as much about the players and the NBPA as it is the league. Do you think the latter group would approve of a change which would increase the penalties incured by its members, even if mostly in the short-term? The NBPA does not care about fairness. The players do not care about fairness. Like the league, they are self-interested parties looking out for themselves at expense of the fans. So it goes.
Would it have prevented all of the missed calls from Games 1 and 2? No. But officiating will never be perfect.
Start of the season they claimed to go after flops but after the first month I did not see 1 get called. They should be able to review flops after the game is over and give out Ts to players that flop. It would stop all the flops.
Exactly. Just as we all knew would happen. It’s all for show.
Poor officiating takes away from the enjoyment of the game. It gets worse every year. NCAA tournament too this year was embarrassingly bad. I don’t know what games you are watching but you either don’t understand the rules or have blinders on.
It never evens out for the small markets…
It only evens out for the big market vs big market clashes…
Legalised gambling has just made it even worse…
The NBA badly needs referee reforms… Bring in technology to do the job and be impartial…
I thought it was pretty fairly officiated. Refs were letting things go on both ends.
Halliburton is a mystery. He is a big time player and does well under pressure but randomly disappeared for stretches? He’d better find it at home. Turner carries blame too, but Halliburton sparks things.
Keep an eye on the officiating the next two games, Chased. It SHOULD slightly favor the Pacers now, including the late calls. A Knicks-Celtics conference finals is obviously more enticing to the casual observer, but Knicks gotta earn it fair and square. The officials missed the kicked-ball call and Turner’s illegal screen was borderline in Game 1 – disappointing to see you flop, Donte. Leave the flopping to the known divas of the league. You’re better than that, buddy.
Celtics will get every call tonight and the game will be officiated different than the other games so far. Lots of calls in tonights game which will benefit the Celtics and Dallas.
The Celtics don’t need calls Chester.
“Celtics will get every call tonight”
Thanks man, I appreciate you explaining that to all of us.
The league reviewed it and stated the call was correct. Can we say the call was correct as opposed to second guessing everything, even after going through a review process?
The league reviewed the kicked-ball call and said it was correct?
NBA always gives the home town calls to the home team. Knicks were getting away with some fouls but now it evens out and pacers will get those non-calls their way. It will be knick fans complaining. Pacers had a chance if they made their free throws.
Some ? Brunson forearm shivers his way to series mvp and you say some ?
There may have been some calls that didnt go the Pacers way, but Carlisle’s decision to sit McConnell in the 4th and not have him finish the game is in my option why they lost.
I think he deserves even more blame than that. The team was playing great. They should have had far more confidence. Especially coming into Q3. Instead they seemed spooked and never took advantage.
Overall the officiating has been horrible in the playoffs.
Whether the Knicks are getting more calls so that ESPN gets the Boston v. NYK series is a whole other story.
However, the refs have been terrible in almost every series and its because they cannot decide if they are going to call it “playoff” or regular season.
The games are way more physical than the reg season and when you change the way you call games you open yourself up to criticism.
I actually like what Indiana did. ITs about time the Refs start to explain why they are calling the game the way they are.
But are the refs against Indiana? Probably not.
NBA sees what is coming. Timberwolves v. OKC and a Boston v. ??? the NBA and ESPN needs the Knicks to win.
Officials have been steering their calls to favor the Knicks since the playoffs began. From bad calls to non-calls its amazing how its happened in 2 rounds – I’m sure it’ll be different next round against Boston.
Knicks 18-22 from FT 81%
Pacers 10-17 from FT 59%!
Pacers 34 rebounds Knicks 44 rebounds
Pacers shot 4 more threes (34 compared to 30) and made only 1 more (15 compared to 14)
“It the refs fault”!
Lmao. Dumb coach.
agreed. What folks fail to realize is that the Knicks are aggressive in the paint, especially on the boards and driving. Fouls are going to be called based on their style of play. They didn’t lead the league in scoring, nor do they have any 3pt threats on team other than Donte. Furthermore, the Knicks are just as adept as the Pacers when pushing the ball down the court in transition, causing the Pacers to foul more often because they’re not a good team defensively to begin with.
The refs in the first two games have made some pretty bad mistakes, but they’ve made mistakes that impact both teams. The refs poor officiating is not why Indy is down 0-2 in the series, and the fact the discussion is about poor officiating for a second straight top-notch series is disappointing and bad for the league. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but Carlisle should probably get a fine for his response.
Quit whining, play better.
-Don’t let your opponent go for 57% from the field and 47% from 3-pt land
-Don’t miss 7 of 17 free throws – y’all letting Shaq take your free throws?
-Don’t take two technicals in the final few minutes of a close game when your team is already down in the series and struggling in the clutch
-Don’t accept your top two players alternate fading out for an entire game or disappearing in the 4th quarter
-Don’t go away from what got you here (Haliburton-Turner PNR, the fast pace, the depth…)
-Don’t bench the one player making an impact on defense against the other teams superstar (McConnell on Brunson)
-If you’re the deeper team, don’t let the other team, which has multiple guys going 40+ minutes per night, beat you on energy/hustle plays down the stretch
Plus, Carlisle has to know the calls should trend a bit more in their favor the next two games. Or, perhaps that’s exactly why he made the comments that he did; to try and secure the most favorable outcome possible during that period. As annoying as it is to see everyone blaming the officials so frequently, I can’t exactly argue with that strategy. You trade the fine for potentially better treatment by bringing attention to the issue.
Good for Thibs, he whined so much about the refs in the first round that the refs and League must’ve changed their minds and are now favoring the Knicks
Heeee Hahahahaaaaa hohuhuhohaaaaaa
really ????
first Knicks make Sixers CRY. Like new born babies. Whaling lols.
Now we got Pacers saying we can’t touch them. You play …… get it, play. We are going to touch you. Knicks will touch you anyway they want. You can cry about it anyway you want…….
So we got what 78 Disputed calls. 78 that’s comical. Cause I counted 74.
link to nypost.com
Oh cmon. Jalen Brunson is practically stealing points with the fake calls he gets. Like how he jumped back into a defender a half dozen times in game 6, or when he throws a ball at a guy’s “foot” it’s a kick. If you can’t acknowledge your ream has
*team has benefited overall from the officiating then I don’t know what games you’re watching.
It’s really simple. They play different styles of games, so yes, the Knicks will continue to get more calls as they flood the paint for rebounds and buckets. Indy is not a good defensive team, and playoff teams that win usually play solid D. They’re just not familiar with it.
Anyone who complains about calls. Is just a crybaby. Or doesn’t understand this game .
Refs will be refs. You got all game to feel them out. Like a strike zone for umpires.
Then you play and push it accordingly.
Need to take matters into your own hands. Handle your business and stop crying…..
We lose OG then it’s over. Thibs better know these guys will be good next yr. 40 min gms is not going to help. This mins thing will hurt Knicks. What’s the point of it without OG. Play everyone. Knicks might and can get by Indiana. Boston will sweep them. Even without KP. Take care of players first.
Didnt Brunson complain in Game 1? Just asking if he is a crybaby or does not understand NBA basketball.
It’s easy to say “refs will be refs when your team is winning.
I would make one more comparison. Mark Davis let Mark Malone run onto the court, get in his face and argue pretty vigorously and NO TECH.
Carlyle throws his hands up and makes a comment to Mark Davis and BAM! Tech.
Its not consistent and everyone can see it. Refs need to be more consistent. Call all the games the same, not Playoff for this series, but Boston (and I am Celtic Fan) gets 5 fouls in the first 4.5 mins of Game 1, some of the same calls were ignored in other series.
Its not consistent and to me as a former player that is the problem. Players have no idea what a foul is and is not in the playoffs.
Refs need to be held accountable for changing everything up.
The Problem is not the Knicks or NY, its the BS – Playoff changes and no accountability from the Refs, well except for the last 2 mins.
Also, everyone knows WHY Rick C. did what he did. He wants to guarantee game 3, which is now a Pacer win. Refs will overcompensate, make it more difficult to understand how they are calling the games, and the Pacers will win.
Bet that. Pacers will win and cover in Game 3. As Charles says “GUARANTEE!!”
Good point about Malone, the NBA was really trying to let the Nuggets back into the game in the 4th.
But hey, just don’t make any money signs with your hands…
Give small market teams a chance Rick? Pretty sure Milwaukee qualifies as a small market, they won in 2021, right.
Whistles are for large market teams only? Then why haven’t the C’s won since 2008, or the Knicks since 1973?
Yes, star players get calls, refs hold grudges against certain players/coaches, and some teams on their home court do, but let’s get real Rick, there is no intent on the league and it’s officials to send you home to ensure the Knicks plays another day. Watch the last two minutes of the Rick, the Pacers gave up four offensive rebounds, Siakim missed two free throws, and you didn’t put in TJ to guard Brunson, who butchered Tyrese on the offensive end. Not sure how that isn’t more about execution than it is is about the refs.
And 78 instances?! Like come on here Rick, every team could send in a game’s worth of footage and identify 25-50 instances in a game where they may not agree with the call. Are we really going to sink to this level NBA wide (I guess we are already, so…).
I have come to the conclusion that there’s a league wide conspiracy against every team in the league where the refs favor whatever team your team is playing.
Carlisle’s statement about small market teams would be funny, if it weren’t so sad. That he’s shamless enough to play to the people who run the league knowing their hostility toward so-called big market teams. He knows its BS, but he also knows that BS sometimes sells, and when it sells with people who matter, why not?
At least since 2011, NOTHING that comes down from the NBA as league (Silver or the owners) favors big market teams, unless its by accident/ mistake. The opposite. The group of owners that control the league (on the ownership side) consist of self-identifying small market owners. They have super majority power and aren’t bashful about using it to their benefit and/or the detriment of so-called big market teams. Anyone who doesn’t understand that doesn’t follow these things, including the CBA negotiations.
IND got the wrong end of two missed calls in Game 1 (the Turner call was NOT one of them), and either of those calls would have flipped possession with 53 seconds left in a tie game. It certainly changed how those last 53 seconds of the game played out. No doubt, it could have affected the result of the game. Also, no doubt that it didn’t necessarily affect it. If the Two Minute Report is gospel, then the NYK should have gotten an extra FT for a defensive 3 second call that wasn’t made. In short, who knows? But, still, the time to throw a fit was then. In Game 2, IND simply played like garbage in the second half, and had one of the most feeble close out efforts in the last minutes of the 4th Qtr that I can remember in a playoff game. Carlisle’s family members could have refereed Game 2 and the result would have been the same.
Refs are killing DEN & IND, really disgusting!
The officials are the biggest issue in the NBA… They cant keep up with the pace the game is played at and legalised gambling has just made the whole thing worse…
As it’s harder to trust they are making honest mistakes…
Silver needs to act for the next season… Make a replay review area in each stadium and have them watch every play… If there’s a bodged call reset the score and clock and fix it…
It’s really not that hard…
the refs have been helping knicks any way possible all series
havent seen such awful 1 sided officiating in a long time
the foul on turner at the end of gm 1? get the f outta here
shoving haliburton halfway across the court and no foul?
big market favoritism. refs are a joke. nba is a joke.