'You can't rely on the refs': Pacers know they made mistakes in loss to Knicks

NEW YORK -- Myles Turner declared himself to be on the swallow-the-whistle side of the debate about how games should be officiated in the final minutes of close games, but he also admitted it might be the bias of the moment talking.

The Pacers center had just been called for an illegal screen with 12.7 seconds to go with his team down by one and the ball in the hands of its star player. And the Pacers had gone on to lose 121-117 to the Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. The screen he'd set on Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo wasn't egregious, but the offensive foul call did hold up on replay review.

"Just in my experience in this league, I think it's best when the players decide the outcome of the game," Turner said. "I think it's unfortunate that it happened. We reviewed it and they still called it an illegal screen, but it's the playoffs, man. DiVincenzo did a great job of selling it. ... Of course, it's right after the game. I'm a little fresh about my emotions on it."

But even with those emotions still fresh, Turner still realized the Pacers had left entirely too much to chance. They couldn't expect the officials manning this particular playoff game to have the same philosophy about late-game foul calls that Turner does. They could have fairly expected the officials not to call a kicked ball with 52.1 seconds left with the game tied when forward Aaron Nesmith got his right hand on a bounce pass from Jalen Brunson -- a missed call that was so egregious crew chief Zach Zarba acknowledged it was incorrect to pool reporter Fred Katz of The Athletic after the game -- but kicked balls are not reviewable so that had to stand as called.

"You can't leave the game to be decided by the refs," Turner said. "We have to take accountability as well. ... We know at the end of the day we can't get into that position."

And the Pacers left the Garden on Monday night knowing there were numerous ways they had allowed themselves to get in to that position.

Their Game 1 performance in the Eastern Conference semifinals wasn't nearly as ugly as their Game 1 performance in their first-round series against the Bucks. They didn't have the same frazzled, nervous, deer-in-headlights moments than they did in that game. They weren't star struck about playing in the Garden, even with Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, Tracy Morgan, 50 Cent, so many former members of the Knicks and current members of the Yankees, Giants and Jets in Celebrity Row.

How did the Pacers do in the rebounding battle?

But they had breakdowns in areas that were focal points in Saturday's and Sunday's practices. They knew they couldn't let the Knicks get to the glass after they posted the highest offensive-rebound rate (37.0%) and most second-chance points (19.2 per game) in the first round of the playoffs.

Throughout the first-half the Pacers were actually winning the rebounding battle 24-21 and allowing the Knicks just two offensive rebounds -- one in each quarter -- and 3 second-chance points. But in the second half when the Knicks weren't missing a lot of shots to begin with, they also grabbed six offensive rebounds with expert crasher Josh Hart getting half of those, and they converted those chances exceptionally well. They made 5 of 8 field goal attempts on second-chance opportunities for 13 points to the Pacers’ 2 in the second half.

"This is New York's pattern," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "As the game goes on, they get stronger with rebounding and they crash harder and harder. We talked about it coming in. It's something that is a major factor. We had opportunities to come up with balls we didn't come up with. In a one-possession game, it makes the difference."

New York played four of its starters 42 minutes or more -- using Hart for all 48 -- and the Pacers didn't play anyone more than 36 minutes but the Knicks seemed to be the team playing with more downhill momentum in the second half and the Pacers couldn't stop it. They battled with Brunson all night with guards Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell taking the primary assignment. Brunson ended up with 48 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter. He was 6 of 10 from the floor in the fourth and made 8 of 8 foul shots.

"He was at the foul line a lot so we gotta look at that," Carlisle said. "He's really a great scorer. There's no question about that. But in situations where we're using our hands and reaching and fouling, we gotta look at that and see what's avoidable."

And when they couldn't stop Brunson, they were in a state of scramble, which opened up opportunities for everyone else on the Knicks. The problems Brunson caused created lanes for Hart to drive, space for him to shoot and chances for him to crash the glass. He finished with 24 points on 9 of 13 shooting to go with 13 rebounds and eight assists. DiVincenzo scored 25 points on 10 of 17 shooting, hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers, including one with 39.4 seconds to go to break a 115-115 tie and give the Knicks the lead the rest of the way.

New York made 26 of 40 field goal attempts in the second half (65%) including 7 of 11 3-pointers, outscoring the Pacers 72-62. That was after they scored just 49 first-half points on 18 of 42 shooting (42.9%).

"The rebounding really hurt us," Pacers veteran point guard T.J. McConnell said. "It gave them extra possessions. DiVincenzo got hot from 3. As a collective, we need to be better rebounding the ball on defense because we know we have to be better at that."

The offense certainly wasn't blameless either even though the Pacers shot 52.3% from the floor and scored 64 points in the paint. They turned the ball over four times in the fourth quarter with three of those coming from All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton in the game's final four minutes.

What happened to Tyrese Haliburton vs. Knicks?

It was a rough night for Haliburton overall. On a night when the Knicks' All-Star point guard scored 43 points on 26 shots, Haliburton scored just six points on six field goal attempts. He hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter and a 3-pointer in the second and didn't score at all in the second half, attempting just one field goal. He had eight assists in the game, but just three in that scoreless second half. The Knicks threw a switching defense at him and though he was able to exploit some of the matchups that created, it kept him from getting to the rim. Haliburton took just one shot in the lane and it was above the edge of the circle, a miss more than 8 feet from the bucket.

McConnell was more effective as his backup, scoring 18 points on 9 of 16 shooting, but McConnell came to Haliburton’s defense knowing the attention he was getting wasn't anywhere near what Haliburton had.

"He's been a focal point for everyone's defensive game plan all year," McConnell said. "There hasn't been a game when I've seen a team in drop coverage. He gets trapped every time he comes off a pick-and-roll. The best thing about Tyrese is he won't force a bad shot. He gets others involved and we trust him with the ball in his hands every single time."

The Pacers did have a lot they could build off of in Game 1. They didn't play like a team that is a major underdog and they didn't seem overwhelmed by the moment. They held control of the game in certain periods and made charges back in the second half after the Knicks took control. They have a chance if they fix some things to turn things around in Game 2.

But they have to operate under the assumption that officiating won't help their cause.

"You can't rely on the refs at the end of the day," Turner said. "Especially in this building."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers accountable for their own mistakes in Game 1 loss