Rick Carlisle knows how to extract the best outputs from everyone in his Indiana Pacers squad. Offensively, they were a force to be reckoned with, and not a lot of squads have learned to figure out their schemes. Coach Tom Thibodeau got a hold of them early in their NBA Playoffs clash against the New York Knicks. However, it did not take long for the Tyrese Haliburton-led squad to execute their schemes better and with a higher intensity. All of this had to do with well-adjusted rotations and better execution. Pat McAfee took notice and gave the Pacers’ head honcho all the praise.
“Sir, long-time admirer. What a win. Hey, keep kicking a**. I like your press conferences too,” Pat McAfee said to Rick Carlisle, via iPacers.
It was an elite coaching masterclass on both ends of the floor for the Pacers. They were flaming it up on offense. It was through constantly switching to the Knicks’ clearly famished stars in Donte DiVincenzo, Jalen Brunson, and Josh Hart. The Pacers lit it up from all three levels of scoring. They knocked down an astounding 56.8% of their field goals despite being limited to just 88 attempts. More impressively, the Knicks just could not beat them from beyond the arc. The Tyrese Haliburton-led squad made it rain as their 31 shots from deep saw the bottom of the net with a 45.2% percentage.
Speaking of Tyrese Haliburton, it was clearly his style of play and execution of Rick Carlisle’s schemes that set the Pacers apart. He knocked down a stellar 53.3% of his shots from the field. This happened while he also dropped five assists to go along with it. His 20 points and high usage in this game, whether it’s through pick-and-rolls or delay action, allowed the Pacers to thrive.
Pacers outclass the Knicks
Rick Carlisle is not just good at letting the Pacers go ballistic on offense. Then, he also had to consider misses and grabbing second-chance opportunities. This is to get his team more possessions. The thorough planning worked well and the execution was flawless. A total of 52 rebounds were grabbed by the Pacers in this 121 to 89 win. This dwarfed the Knicks’ total of 43 total rebounds. What made it more impressive was that Tom Thibodeau’s squad still managed to get 16 offensive rebounds. Meanwhile, the Pacers just got nine. Clearly, it was a great display of closing out defensive schemes which helped.
Moreover, another key decision by Rick Carlisle that helped the Pacers was the spread-out offensive load. The clear difference between this team and the Knicks is that anyone can notch a bucket at any point in the game. While Haliburton was the only player who notched 20 points, the Pacers had a whopping total of six players in double digits. This list could have been extended to 10 had four other members scored one or two more buckets.
All of this success starts with coaching. Pat McAfee might be pumped at how the Pacers performed. But, it has been Carlisle who has been helping this squad get back up despite being battered down at times in this NBA Playoffs series.
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