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Indiana Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle Remains Upbeat Ahead of Game 3 Despite Going Down 0-2 Vs. Boston Celtics

Originally posted on Hardwood Heroics | By Jordan Samar | Last updated 5/24/24

Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle remains optimistic about his team’s chances of beating the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, despite now that they’re down 0-2. After all, they’ve already been in this situation not too long ago.

With the series moving to Indiana, the former NBA Coach of the Year looks forward to returning to their home court, where they’re currently 6-0 so far this playoffs.

“In the New York series, we were down 0-2 and came home, and were able to win Game 3 and then move along and do what we wanted to do. For us right now, we’ve gotta concentrate on getting back as quickly as we can tonight and preparing ourselves for our best possible effort on Saturday night,” a confident Carlisle said in the postgame press conference of Game 2.

“I know that our building will be as loud and live as it’s ever been. It’s race weekend and everything else going on, so we gotta take advantage of that. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but it will be a better environment for us than playing here for sure,” he added.

Indiana Pacers need all hands on deck

The Indiana Pacers are sweating on the fitness of Tyrese Haliburton , as the two-time NBA All-Star tweaked his left leg while guarding Jayson Tatum midway through the third period of Game 2.

“He came out and gave it a shot (in the third quarter), was giving all the effort that he could,” Carlisle said about Haliburton via Indy Star. “I haven’t talked to him about it directly so I can’t read minds, but It wasn’t going well. The trainers determined he needed to go to the back and get worked on and he was ruled out.”

With or without Haliburton, the Indiana Pacers have to win Game 3 to make this series competitive against the Boston Celtics since no one has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit in a best-of-seven series.