Tyrese Haliburton took it like a man and did not but buy his coach’s gripes about officiating as the reason why Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks are up 2-0 following a dramatic come-from-behind 130-121 victory in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Wednesday, May 8.
“They outplayed us,” Haliburton told reporters. “Let’s not pretend like the refs are the reason we lost. We just got to be better.”
But to an incensed Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, the officiating had a hand in their back-to-back losses in New York.
“I can promise you that we’re going to submit these tonight,” a dejected Carlisle told reporters after getting tossed late in the game with two technical fouls. “New York can get ready. They’ll see them too. I’m always talking to our guys about not making it about the officials, but we deserve a fair shot.
Small-market teams deserve an equal shot. They deserve a fair shot no matter where they’re playing.”
Carlisle followed through as the Pacers have submitted 78 instances of incorrect or non-calls to the NBA that they felt put them at a disadvantage in Games 1 and 2, ESPN reported.
The Pacers coach referred to two particular plays in Game 2 which he felt the referees missed:
Josh Hart’s shove to Haliburton, who has been playing through back spasms and the double-dribble call against Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein with 1:19 left that was overturned.
“It’s all over Twitter right now because a few people have showed it to me and (referee) JB DeRosa is looking right at it,” Carlisle said. “You can see he has vision of the play and he shoves Tyrese into the corner and there is no whistle. Right in the back. That was shocking and there were many others.”
Jalen Brunson Pulls a ‘Willis Reed Moment’ in 2nd Half
Brunson pulled a “Willis Reed” moment in the second half exactly 54 years ago since the iconic game of the Knicks legend.
Reed dramatically emerged from the Garden tunnel in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals as he hobbled through a thigh injury, inspiring the Knicks to win their first NBA title.
Brunson, who was in the locker room the entire second quarter with a sore foot, re-emerge after halftime and willed the Knicks to a scintillating comeback from a 73-63 deficit.
He was not hobbling like Reed as he scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half, shrugging off the discomfort, to a loud “MVP” chants from the roaring 19,812 Madison Square Garden crowd.
“It was really cool to hear, but I just knew that I had to get my mind in the right place to figure out how I was going to attack the second half,” Brunson told reporters.
OG Anunoby Suffers Hamstring Injury
While the Knicks took a commanding 2-0 lead, they also suffered another major blow.
OG Anunoby will be out for Game 3 after he exited late in the fourth quarter of Game 2 with a hamstring injury.
It is a tough pill to swallow especially after Anunoby scored a playoff career-high 28 points.
Brunson is also questionable to play with right foot soreness.
Without Anunoby, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau will lean on Precious Achiuwa and Miles McBride to fill the defensive void.
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