The final buzzer between the Indiana Pacers and Dallas Mavericks turned into absolute chaos that left Rick Carlisle fuming. The reporters didn’t even have to ask the furious coach about the final play that sealed his team’s heartbreaking 125-122 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night. A controversial sequence between Dallas’ Caleb Martin and Indiana’s Pascal Siakam is being looked at with differing perspectives depending on where you stand. If you’re the Indiana Pacers head coach, it was something straight out of an NFL game.

With Indiana trailing by three points with 3.7 seconds remaining, Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard lobbed an inbounds pass toward All-Star forward Pascal Siakam at the opposite elbow. Mavericks forward Caleb Martin aggressively broke on the ball, tipping it away, making heavy physical contact with Siakam that sent both players crashing to the hardwood. The clock ran out without a whistle, and the score remained frozen at 122-125.

Taking the podium for his postgame press conference, Carlisle immediately seized control of the room, expressing complete disbelief over the controversial non-call on the game’s final possession that denied the Pacers a chance to force overtime or take the lead.

“Is anybody going to ask about the last play?” Carlisle opened his remarks before reporters could even pitch a question. When they said yes, he didn’t mince his words on what he deemed worse than a non-call.

“It’s a football-caliber collision, and it’s clearly a foul,” said Carlisle. “And you know we would have been shooting two free throws with three and a half seconds left. I’m at a loss for what was being looked at. Then you ask, and the responses are just shocking. So, this team, our team, fought their hearts out in this game. They deserved an opportunity to win the game. You know we hurt ourselves with some mistakes, but there’s no questioning the intensity, the effort, any of that kind of stuff… I just, you know… That whistle needs to blow. It almost looks like targeting a defenseless player in a football game. I’m shocked.”

Carlisle pursued official J.D. DeRosa immediately after the final horn to demand an explanation. Cameras captured his furious gesticulating while Pascal Siakam also appealed to the referees. Though there seemed to be a mini-conference between officials, nothing came of it. After the game, Carlisle declined to elaborate on what was said on the court.

“I’m not going to get into it. I’m probably already, you know… but that one to me, it happened right in front of me and the official, and they may have been intentionally fouling. It looked like that may have been a possibility. I don’t know for sure, but the guys played really hard. Proud of them.”

Siakam, who echoed his head coach’s frustration, also confirmed to reporters he received no explanation from the officiating crew regarding the contact on the final play.

Pacers Fail Despite Strong First Half

The frantic end-of-game sequence capped off a wild, back-and-forth contest at the American Airlines Center. Without Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana surged out of the gate behind a dominant opening half from Siakam, who exploded for 26 of his game-high 29 points before halftime while shooting 8-for-9 from the field in that period.

The Pacers carried a 66–56 lead into the break and led by as many as 13 points.

However, Dallas mounted a fierce second-half rally behind a historic night from Cooper Flagg and veteran superstar Kyrie Irving. Flagg turned in a career performance, recording a monster double-double with 43 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. Irving poured in 35 points by hitting seven 3-pointers while completing his first back-to-back set of the season.

Despite the late deficit, Indiana stayed alive down the stretch thanks to late 3-pointers from Aaron Nesmith, who finished with 18 points.

The game reached its boiling point with four seconds left after Dallas forward P.J. Washington Jr. missed two free throws that could have sealed the victory. Obi Toppin secured the rebound for Indiana and called a timeout to set up the final sideline out-of-bounds play with Nembhard.

Nembhard’s lob to Siakam triggered the collision with Martin. With no foul called, Mavs’ Walter Clayton Jr. corralled the loose ball as the clock ran out, advancing the Mavericks to 7–4 on the season while dropping the Pacers to 3–8.

Pacers fan pages are calling Martin’s collision with Siakam a foul. Meanwhile, Dallas supporters are hyping the 31-year-old for his defensive display. Some are harkening back to their last matchup when Aaron Nesmith left Cooper Flagg injured.

While Dallas celebrated its three-game home winning streak, Carlisle left the floor adamant that his team was deprived of a fair chance to dictate their own fate.