Rick Carlisle had all sorts of complaints about the referees after the Pacers’ Game 2 loss to the Knicks Wednesday night, but the head coach is drawing ire himself from those who believe he made a tactical blunder in the defeat.
Guard TJ McConnell sat idly on the bench after being pulled with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, which former top-10 pick Nik Stauskas called a fireable offense.
The Pacers — and particularly guard Andrew Nembhard — struggled to contain Jalen Brunson down the stretch with McConnell sidelined, and the Knicks pulled away.
“Im sorry but if you are the indiana Pacers you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT take Tj McConnell out of the game in the 4th quarter and put Nembhard in and expect to win?” Stauskas said in a now-deleted Instagram Story reposted by KnicksMuse on X.
“TJ (18 pts, 22 mins, +9 on the floor)… Nembhard (11pts, 29 mins, -13). Oh yeah, and it’s just a coincidence that Brunson goes for 16 pts in last 6 mins with Nembhard guarding him? What an absolute joke! Inexcusable mistake by Pacers coaching staff that will cost them their season and job if they don’t watch some goddamn film and wake up!”
Carlisle’s decision also received heavy criticism from TNT commentators as well as fans, with Stan Van Gundy pointing out that the Pacers “will need to do something different” the minute that McConnell was subbed out of the game with 7:10 remaining and the Knicks leading, 105-103.
“We’re gonna see how it goes … but Rick Carlisle may have to bring TJ McConnell back in later in this quarter after he gets a little rest to guard Jalen Brunson, he’s been by far the toughest matchup for him,” Van Gundy said after Brunson beat Nembhard off the dribble for a layup with 6:50 remaining.
On the Knicks’ next possession, with 6:14 remaining and the Knicks leading by two, Brunson drilled a 3-pointer with Nembhard guarding him.
“Jalen Brunson has killed that matchup,” Van Gundy said. “Nembhard is a good defender, but he has killed that matchup for two games. They’re going to have to do something different here.”
“You notice Nembhard doesn’t get into him as much as McConnell does,” Van Gundy said of the matchup with Brunson. “He’s [Brunson] able to get a little space.”
Nembhard was then able to go down and hit a 3-pointer, at which point Reggie Miller said that’s the trade-off, as McConnell typically doesn’t shoot from deep very often.
But McConnell had six points, one rebound and one assist in just five minutes played in the fourth quarter.
Nembhard did not hit any other shots during the fourth quarter, accumulating two more personal fouls and one assist during his seven minutes played in the fourth.
After the game, Carlisle said, “T.J. had played a pretty good chunk of minutes.”
He believed Nembhard had earned the right to close the game with strong play against the Bucks’ Damian Lillard in the previous series.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Knicks in the NBA playoffs
“I considered it,” Carlisle told reporters about possibly having McConnell close the game. “But our starters have earned the trust to finish games. Nembhard is probably our best on-ball defender, and we were flying around trapping too. We kinda had the kitchen sink going at [Brunson] in the fourth, and they still came up with loose balls, they came up with offensive rebounds and they made shots.”
McConnell had a plus/minus of +10, while no other starter had a better than -9 figure.
Nembhard had 15 points and four assists on an excellent 7-for-9 shooting.
“Whenever my number is called, I’ll be ready,” McConnell said. “If that means I have to be over on the bench supporting my teammates, I’ll do that at the highest level. Rick is a Hall-of-Fame coach. He’s been doing this for a long time, so the rotations that he plays, we trust that they’re the right ones. I support him and everyone fully supports him with the rotations.”
Lineups figure to be a major question mark ahead of Game 3 in Indianapolis on Friday.