Pacers coach Rick Carlisle ejected while arguing with officials in loss to Nuggets

Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was ejected from the team's 114-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday after arguing with officials over what he thought was a missed foul on new Pacers star Pascal Siakam.

Midway through the third quarter at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Siakam drove to the hoop and tried to make an off-balanced layup through Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Siakam missed the layup and crashed down to the court, and the Nuggets grabbed the rebound and went the other way.

Carlisle, clearly thinking Siakam was fouled, immediately started screaming at the officials. He was quickly hit with a technical foul and received a second after he charged at an official. He had to be held back briefly by assistant coach Lloyd Pierce before he was thrown out of the game.

Caldwell-Pope and Jamal Murray had a bit of fun with Carlisle’s ejection and played a game to determine who would get to shoot the free throws. Caldwell-Pope won.

The ejection marked Carlisle’s first of the season.

The ejection nearly worked out for the Pacers. After being outscored by 20 points in the third quarter, the Pacers opened the fourth on a 22-9 tear to retake the lead. Yet after a Ben Sheppard 3-pointer, the Nuggets took off. They mounted a 9-4 run to take control of the game right back and then sealed the five-point win with a huge Nikola Jokić 3-pointer in the final seconds.

Jokić led the Nuggets with a triple-double with 31 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in the win. Murray had 31 points, too, and added eight rebounds and seven assists. The Nuggets shot 50% from the field as a team, and they’ve now won five of their past six.

Myles Turner led the Pacers with 22 points. Siakam finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds and shot 7-of-16 from the field. Siakam was traded to the Pacers last week after the team struck a deal with the Toronto Raptors. The Pacers have lost five of their past six games, including all three that Siakam has been part of, and they are still missing star Tyrese Haliburton due to a hamstring injury. He'll be evaluated again Saturday.