The Pacers led by three with less than 10 seconds left but couldn’t hold on against the Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The Pacers wanted to foul.
But a clean opportunity didn’t present itself.
Disaster then struck, with Celtics wing Jaylen Brown hitting a game-tying 3-pointer with six seconds left in the fourth quarter of Boston’s eventual 133-128 overtime win over the Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night in Boston.
“Yes (we wanted to foul), but he caught the ball, and he was face-up, Pascal (Siakam) decided to lay off — which was, I understand, that’s probably the right decision, you don’t want to give up a four-point play,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “A lot of things had to go wrong for us and right for them and they did.
“We have to own it and get ready for Thursday.”
As Carlisle mentioned, the Pacers made two critical errors in the final 10 seconds that turned a potential — and crucial — Game 1 win into a devastating setback that could swing the series.
