The New York Knicks throttled the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of the Conference Semifinals tonight. They defeated the Pacers 130-121 in a matchup where emotions ran high, particularly, of a certain coach. Rick Carlisle expressed thorough annoyance at the officials and their calls.

Talking to the press post-game, the Pacers coach said, “Their physicality is rewarded and ours is penalized.” This comes in the wake of the Indiana legend, Reggie Miller’s comments about visiting teams in MSG. A broadcaster with TNT now, all the memories of playing against the Knicks seemed to have rushed to his mind as he claimed in Game 1, “You’re playing 5 vs 8… you’re playing the officials as well.” 

As for Carlisle, he also seemed to have gotten emotional, as his next words suggest. “Small market teams deserve a fair shot no matter where they are playing.” The second half saw New York star Jalen Brunson return after missing the entire second quarter with a right foot issue and ended up tallying 29 points. According to the unhappy coach, that’s when the atmosphere changed. He believed that led to unjust officiating that worked in favor of the big-market Knicks.

But it seemed like he finally got a grip on his bearings as he added, “We’ve gotta do some things better and we’ve gotta get home.”

Prior to everything else, Coach Carlisle pointed out that the officiating errors at MSG were not an isolated incident. The Pacers found 29 plays in Game 1 alone that they believed were called the wrong way. But Carlisle decided not to submit them because he hoped they would get a “more balanced whistle” the second time around. Clearly, that did not happen.

Towards the end, the Pacers coach grew increasingly frustrated watching his team suffer, leading to the man in question receiving two technical fouls and being ejected. This was during the reversal of a crucial double-dribble violation that could have favored Indiana. And if that wasn’t enough, there was the Josh Hart-Tyrese Haliburton issue, as well.

“JB DeRosa is looking right at it“: Rick Carlisle is incredulous at the sheer duplicity of NBA officiating

Tyrese Haliburton has been dealing with a back injury for quite some time now. Hence, it is common knowledge. When a team plays a physical brand of basketball, their opponents get ready, keeping that in mind. The most popular and infamous team known for their very physical and often dirty plays was the ‘Bad Boy Pistons’. While the Knicks might not have reached that level, it seems like they do have their moments.

One such instance happened in the third quarter when the rising star, Josh Hart, decided to stir the pot a little. With five minutes left in the third phase, Hart, hot on the heels of Tyrese, shoves him in the back. Recounting the moment was an agitated Pacers coach. “JB DeRosa is looking right at it, you can see, he’s got vision of the play and he shoves Tyrese into the corner, and there’s no whistle. Right in the back. That was shocking!” 

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It was quite a dangerous move because Haliburton was gaining momentum and had he lost his balance, it would end badly. Especially considering his back. Carlisle then proceeded to warn the Knicks that they better get ready because in no way were they going to avoid sending the plays they believed to be plain foul.

There is no doubt that the team that the Knicks will face at Gainbridge FieldHouse in Game 3 won’t be the same as the previous two. For the Pacers’ sake, we hope that is the case.