In Los Angeles, Rick Carlisle wanted to make himself clear without risking a fine.
Rick Carlisle Concedes Lakers’ Free Throw Lead
On Sunday night, the Pacers scored nine more field goals than the Lakers. They also made six more 3-pointers, shooting 50% from downtown. While they almost matched the Lakers in points scored in the paint, they fell just short by two points. The Pacers dominated the second-chance points, scoring 24 compared to the Lakers’ 10. Additionally, they had more fast-break points (15 to 6) and bench points (49 to 28) than the Lakers.
The Lakers had a big advantage in one area: free throws. They made 38 out of 43 attempts, while the Pacers only made 9 out of 16. The Pacers were called for 31 personal fouls, compared to the Lakers’ 14.
During the second and third quarters, the Lakers scored 86 points while the Pacers only got 63. The Lakers made 23 out of 26 free throws, while the Pacers made all 6 of theirs. By the third period, the Lakers were ahead by 19 points. The Pacers tried to catch up in the fourth quarter but ended up losing 150-145.
Carlisle talked about the difference in free-throw numbers at the beginning, but he didn’t want to say more about it.
Carlisle said, “Some things were just impossible to beat. One was the huge gap of 27 free throws. The other was the 17-foul difference. That’s all I’ll say about it.”
The difference didn’t become big until the second quarter after Lakers’ LeBron James and Anthony Davis talked with officials about a foul. It happened when Davis fouled Pacers’ Myles Turner, who then made both free throws. At that point, the Pacers had taken 10 free throws while the Lakers had taken 12.
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During the discussion, Marc Davis stood by his decision on a foul against Anthony Davis. After that, the Pacers faced 12 fouls in a row, with Pascal Siakam also getting a technical foul for arguing. By the time Turner scored a free throw with 5:35 left in the second quarter, the Pacers were up 57-55. Later, the Lakers led 91-78 until Siakam scored, earning the Pacers a chance at free throws. The Lakers got 12 free throws during this period.
The Pacers didn’t say that the discussion was related to the difference in free throws, but they did admit that the Lakers won because they went to the free-throw line a lot, which prevented the Pacers from playing their usual fast-paced game.
Pacers’ star player Tyrese Haliburton said, “When there are loads of free throws, it slows down the game. We prefer a faster pace like we had in the first quarter. But when there are many stoppages for free throws, it’s hard to keep up. That’s been the case in both games we’ve played. We need to avoid fouls and keep playing strong despite the interruptions.”
Haliburton pointed out that during the finals of the In-Season Tournament back in December in Las Vegas, the Lakers got to shoot free throws frequently too. He also mentioned that referees have been letting players play more roughly in recent weeks, but that wasn’t the case on Sunday.
Haliburton said, “They shot 43 free throws today. In the first game against the Lakers, it was 35. I don’t know what to do when a team gets that many free throws. Lately, the officiating has been different, letting more go. We need to keep playing despite what happens.”
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