“He’s protecting us!” Tyrese Haliburton defends Rick Carlisle by taking the blame for OT loss to Celtics

The Pacers made mistakes during clutch time which cost them the game against the Celtics.

“He’s protecting us!” Tyrese Haliburton defends Rick Carlisle by taking the blame for OT loss to Celtics

Tyrese Haliburton defended HC Rick Carlisle after Game 1 loss

As the Indiana Pacers lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the team’s head coach Rick Carlisle received criticism for his coaching in crucial minutes. The HC was called out for not taking a timeout in the final seconds of regulation which caused the overtime and the Pacers’ loss. After the game, Carlisle took the blame for the defeat but Tyrese Haliburton had the HC’s back.

In the post-game press conference, Carlisle admitted the errors in his coaching decisions as he took responsibility for the upset. However, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton defended the coach by stating that the blame was on him not the coach.

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That’s not on him… Us just players, we got to do a better job. I had two bad turnovers that I feel like cost us the game. Went into 4th and went to overtime. So, I understand he’s protecting us… but I’ll take that more than he should.
Tyrese Haliburton said

After his inconsistent game, the 24-year-old also pledged that he will have a better performance in the next game and the Pacers will respond. Despite having a good offensive performance for most of the time, Haliburton made absurd mistakes in the last quarter and overtime. Turnovers and missed shots were the main reason for the Pacers’ downfall.

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Despite having a lead by the end of regulation, the Pacers gave up the ball which tied the game with less than ten seconds left. After that Indiana could not bounce back as Celtics took over in overtime and won the game to take a 1-0 lead.

Tyrese Haliburton said the Pacers played ‘great’ for 47 minutes

As the Pacers were the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference, many believed that the team would not stand a chance in the championship semifinals. However, the Pacers guard, Haliburton is confident in his team despite the Game 1 loss. The team gave a hard time to the top-seeded team for the majority of the time but failed to get to the finish line.

After the loss, Haliburton talked about the team’s belongingness in the series after their tough fight. The star acknowledged the faulty plays that cost the team the game but was optimistic about the overall performance. 

What I will say is encouraging is we have been trash in Game 1s for the first series and second series and today, we played great for about 47 minutes. Just didn't sustain it for 48.
Tyrese Haliburton said

The guard showed his positive outlook about the loss as the team will aim at fixing their mistakes in Game 2. The Pacers will now look to make a comeback just like they did in the first two series of the playoffs. The team will stay in Boston for the game on Thursday to attempt to tie the series.

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