INDIANAPOLIS — Pacers coach Rick Carlisle is drawing attention for critiquing the officials’ calls.
But it’s his own call to keep T.J. McConnell on the bench that should be getting attention — and critiqued.
The smallest player on Indiana’s roster has had an outsized impact for the Pacers in their second-round series against the Knicks, the only Pacer to even quasi-effectively guard red-hot Jalen Brunson.
But Carlisle’s decision to leave McConnell on the bench for the decisive minutes of Game 2 came back to haunt him.
“Well, T.J. had played a pretty good chunk of minutes. I considered it,” Carlisle said. “But our starters have earned the trust to finish games. And you know [Andrew] Nembhard is probably our best on-ball defender. And we were flying around trapping, too. We kind of had the kitchen sink going at them in the fourth, and they still came up with loose balls. They came up with the offensive rebounds. They made shots. So, look, their execution has been very good in those situations.
“But look, everything’s on the table going forward. It has to be at this point. And we’ll look closely at everything.”
It remains to be seen whether Carlisle changes that in Friday’s Game 3 in Indianapolis.
McConnell got pulled with 7:10 left with the Pacers trailing, 105-103.
Brunson promptly took Nembhard off the dribble for a reverse layup 18 seconds later.
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And on the Knicks’ very next possession, Brunson drilled a step-back 3-pointer with 6:18 remaining and Nembhard guarding him.
Brunson scored 11 of his 29 points in the final 6:52, most of them coming against Nembhard — who has gotten eviscerated by the Knicks star in the series.
Indiana also missed McConnell’s steady hand at the point down the stretch.
He had 10 points, 12 assists and finished plus-10 in nearly 23 minutes of action.
But the day after, Pacers fans are asking why he didn’t log closer to 30 minutes.
“Rick is a Hall of Fame coach and has been doing this for a long time, so the rotations that he plays, we trust that they’re the right ones, and I fully support him,” McConnell said. “Whenever my number is called, I’ll be ready, [even] if that means I have to be over on the bench supporting my team.”
That said, the Pacers’ offense couldn’t keep up without the veteran’s steady hand of scoring and facilitating.
The Pacers have outscored the Knicks by 19 points with McConnell on the court in the series but have been outscored by 32 when he sits.
And he shockingly sat the final 7:10 when Brunson blew it open.
Slowing him was a task Nembhard couldn’t handle, but the pesky McConnell relished.
“I mean, he’s a marquee player in this league,” McConnell said. “And playing in Madison Square Garden, picking him up 94 feet, what greater challenge is there?”
