Rick Carlisle helped the Pacers come within two quarters of winning the first NBA championship in franchise history last season. Winning Game 7 on the road would have made them an all-time underdog story.
The Pacers were very close to taking down one of the all-time great teams in the NBA in the Oklahoma City Thunder. Unfortunately, they lost Tyrese Haliburton to injury just seven minutes in.
Haliburton tore his Achilles tendon right after hitting three 3’s to start the game. Carlisle reflected on that moment, calling it “franchise-altering” while speaking to Zach Lowe.
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While appearing on the Zach Lowe Show, Carlisle called the injury “devastating”, which it was.
“The injury happened. What a devastating moment. And Tyrese was trying to get up off the floor and walk off the court on his own power. He did not want to be carried off or anything like that. As it turned out, he needed to be helped off. But at halftime, he was back there with a boot on, and he was defiantly encouraging of our guys. We had a one-point lead at halftime. It was 24 minutes, and we just couldn’t get there.”
Carlisle could tell that it was going to tough for them to win without Haliburton, and it was ultimately impossible. He was just too important to their offense and their ball-handling.
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As great as last year was for the Pacers, they have to put it behind them. Haliburton will not be returning to the lineup this season, so they have to find a way to replace his production.
That means that Andrew Nembhard is going to have a lot on his plate from an offensive standpoint. He now gets the keys to the offense, while still handling the responsibility of defending the best guard on the other team.
Carlisle did perhaps the best coaching job of his career last season. If Indiana wants to have a prayer of replicating last year’s success, it needs to have Carlisle be even better as a head coach this year.
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