Rick Carlisle pinpoints what doomed Pacers vs. Rockets

The 2025-26 Indiana Pacers may be having a nightmare season, but they have been playing noticeably better basketball as of late even if it hasn’t been resulting in many wins. On Monday night, they pushed a Kevin Durant-less Houston Rockets team to the limit, keeping in step with them all game but losing steam in the end, 118-114.

They had a golden opportunity to come back towards the end of the game; Alperen Sengun, despite having a monster night, missed two free throws with the Pacers down by three with less than 10 seconds remaining in the contest. However, in what would be the story of the night, the Rockets hauled in the offensive board and Amen Thompson split a pair of free throws, sealing the game in the Rockets’ favor.

After the game, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle rued his team’s deficiencies on the glass and their inability to keep the Rockets off the foul line where they got 31 easy points (out of 37 attempts).

“[It was] pretty obvious the rebounding and the free throw line were the two big factors in the game,” Carlisle said, per Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “They have guys who are very good rebounders to start with. They have guys with tenacity to pursue the ball.”

The Rockets hauled in a total of 56 rebounds on the night (19 offensive). Meanwhile, all the Pacers could muster were 33 boards (seven on the offensive end).

Pacers need a center, stat