'It was just a mess at the end': Late mistakes ruin Game 1 for Pacers vs. Celtics

BOSTON -- Myles Turner ripped down a rebound off an off-balance fadeaway in the lane from Jayson Tatum and flipped the ball out to Tyrese Haliburton, who Tatum had to run to foul and foul immediately.

That should've been the end of it right there. The Pacers had a three-point lead with 10 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, so all they had to do was successfully inbound the ball, draw a foul without coughing the ball up, make a couple free throws and create an insurmountable two-possession lead. And then they could celebrate a momentous Game 1 win in the Eastern Conference finals which they managed to erase multiple double-digit deficits on the road against the NBA's best team of 2023-24 and one of its two most decorated franchises of all-time.

But as it turned out that wasn't the end of it. Not even close. Instead, there was a turnover, then a remarkable game-tying 3-pointer, then a busted possession that led to overtime. And there there were more turnovers and more remarkable shots, and when the end of it finally came the No. 6 seed upstart Pacers had lost 133-128 to the No. 1 seed Celtics at TD Garden Tuesday night to fall behind 1-0 in the series.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle sat down in front of a microphone for his post-game press conference and immediately took responsibility for everything that happened in the last 10 seconds of regulation, saying that his first bad decision in that stretch led to every other breakdown, without which there would have never been an overtime and without which the Pacers would have been able to steal a road win in the series' first two games.

He regretted it more, he said, because the Pacers had done so many things well. They had fallen behind 12-0 to start the game, but cut the deficit to three points by the end of the first quarter and had the game tied by halftime. They fell behind 90-77 in the third quarter in one of those runs that the Celtics so often use to crush opponents' spirits, but the Pacers finished the period on a 16-4 run to get back within a point and never let the Celtics get ahead by more than five in the fourth.

"I love the way our guys fought in this game," Carlisle said. "This loss is totally on me. With 10 seconds in regulation, we should have just taken the timeout, advanced the ball, found a way to get it in and made a free throw or two and ended the game. But it didn't happen."

The Pacers could have advanced the ball into the frontcourt for a sideline out-of-bounds which might have given them a few more options for how to get it in. They could have also taken the timeout when it became clear the Celtics had each of their guys covered in the backcourt.

What happened instead, however, was second-year guard made a risky pass to forward Pascal Siakam cutting toward the opposite basket with Celtics wing Jaylen Brown closing fast and then draped over his back. Brown got a hand on the ball but it also seemed to go off of Siakam's fingertips. He continued to chase the ball to try to save it and then it went off of his hand again out of bounds. It was Boston's ball and Carlisle was out of challenges to force a review.

"It's a tough one," Siakam said. "I felt like I was grabbed, then I felt like I touched it. I didn't know if he touched it. It was just a mess at the end. I was just trying to save it. Yeah frustrating play for sure."

And it only got more frustrating after that.

Suddenly the Celtics had life, and that was all they needed. All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown started in the left corner with Siakam on him. He ran around a screen from guard Derrick White near the foul line and returned back to the corner where he caught a pass from veteran guard Jrue Holiday, immediately squared up to shoot, pump faked, then drilled a 3-pointer over Siakam's head to tie the game with 5.7 seconds to go.

The immediate question asked was why the Pacers had not to fouled to give up two free throws rather than a chance to tie the game. The truth was, however that they had decided to foul, but even when those are the instructions, Carlisle's players know they are only to foul if they can do so before the opposing player begins the act of shooting, less they commit a three-shot foul or even worse, turn a 3-pointer into a four-point play. The screen set by White slowed down Siakam just enough that when he got to Brown, he was already heading into upward motion on the pump fake and if Siakam had fouled then he would have run the risk of a three-shot foul. He had his hands low looking for a chance to foul, so he didn't actually get his hands up to contest the shot.

"He caught the ball and he was face-up so Pascal decided to lay off," Carlisle said. "I understand that's probably the right decision. You don't want to give up the four-point play."

Siakam confirmed that version of events.

"I wanted to foul as soon as I got to him, but I was a little late because of the screen," Siakam said. "He acted like he was going up, so I didn't want to do it. When I thought I was going to do it, it was too little too late. It's one of those where if you have an opportunity to do it, you do it, but it's just a judgment call. I felt like he was going to his motion. He had a pump fake, I didn't want to foul then. And it's a tough shot and I was in front of him. Maybe I could have contested it better, but it's just a tough call."

As it happened, the Pacers probably would have been able to successfully foul if they had decided beforehand to switch all screens. Veteran guard T.J. McConnell was guarding White, and if he had switched on to Brown he would have been able to get to the corner to foul him on the catch. But without knowing how the play would go, the Pacers knew switching McConnell on to Brown would risk having a 6-1 guard trying to contest a shot against a 6-6 wing in Brown. Even if Siakam couldn't foul he has a 7-3 wingspan that could help contest. Brown just managed to drill the shot over that.

After that bucket, the Pacers still had a chance to win the game in regulation. This time they did start the possession on the sideline in the frontcourt.

Haliburton started the possession at the right elbow being guarded by White -- named second-team All-Defense for the second straight year on Tuesday. He ran to the center court logo and White was hit by screens by center Myles Turner and forward Aaron Nesmith, which drove White into the lane. The Celtics didn't switch, which gave Haliburton open space to start the possession, but only for about a second while White broke toward the ball.

Haliburton took one dribble before White met him above the 3-point line, and he would say later that was the moment he should have pulled up and shot. Instead he tried to drive around him. White funneled Haliburton over to the right elbow where the 6-8 Tatum was waiting to bottle him up. Tatum forced him back beyond the 3-point arc and then to shoot a wild shot over him, which cleared the bucket before hitting the backboard on the opposite side and falling harmlessly to the floor as the buzzer sounded.

"I felt like there was a better shot to get that I didn't get," Haliburton said before confirming that he meant the early deep look. "... That's replayed in my head 100 times and it will replay after I get out of here. But I can't dwell on it. I felt like that was probably the look for me to shoot. I wish I did, but I didn't."

The Pacers still had more chances after that. They took the lead first on a step-back 3-pointer by Haliburton with 3:43 to go to go up 120-117, fell behind 121-120, then took it back again when Haliburton made all three free throws on a three-shot foul. However, Tatum scored on a three-point play thanks to two offensive rebounds by White. Then when Haliburton found himself forced into the sideline by Holiday for another turnover, Tatum drilled a 3-pointer that made it a four-point game. A steal by Brown turned into a layup by White to put the Celtics up six with 25 seconds left and the Pacers were basically out of time.

Tatum scored 10 of his 36 points in overtime, but the Pacers had three turnovers that led to seven points which fit with the theme of the evening. They gave the ball away 21 times which turned into 32 Celtics points. That hasn't been a problem for the Pacers for most of the playoffs as they turned the ball over just 10.8 times per game in their first 13 playoff games. Haliburton had three Tuesday night, two of which were on occasions when he dribbled the ball off his foot.

"At the end of the day, it comes down to turnovers, big-time turnovers," Turner said. "I really think we showed our age a little bit tonight. Being a youthful team and being in this high stakes of a game, those uncharacteristic mistakes made their way out."

But, Turner said, they also showed poise in all those moments they fell behind, so even though they walked away with a loss, they could walk away from Game 1 and walk into Game 2 knowing that they very much belonged on the floor with a Celtics team that won 64 regular season games, seven more than anyone else in the NBA and 14 more than anyone else in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers were beaten by the Bucks and Knicks much more decisively in Game 1 of those series, came back stronger in Game 2 and, of course, ended up advancing. Game 1 of this series showed signs that the Pacers start in a much better place than they did in either of those series.

The Pacers hit six more field goals than the Celtics, who benefitted from a 30-10 disparity in free throw attempts. Indiana won the rebounding battle 44-43 and held the Celtics to 47.5% shooting including 33.3% from beyond the 3-point arc while making 53.5% of their own shots and 37.1% of their 3s. They took powerful blows from the Celtics' biggest stars -- Tatum, Brown and Holiday combined for 90 points -- but still had the game in their hands with 10 seconds to go before they let it slip away.

"We know we can play with these guys," Haliburton said. "There's a lot of people saying we don't belong here. We don't really care. We know we belong."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers' collapse in last 10 seconds ruins strong Game 1 performance