The Pacers lost their second consecutive game to the Knicks in the NBA postseason, but Tyrese Haliburton isn’t blaming the officials.
So far, the series has included several controversial calls that have swayed the results of the games. After the match on Wednesday, Indiana reportedly sent 78 clips complaining about bad calls to the league office.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle was ejected from the game and after, he told reporters that small market teams are not getting a fair shake.
While it is frustrating when calls don’t go the way that you want, though, Haliburton knows that there are other reasons why the Pacers are trailing two games to none in the series.
"They outplayed us. Let's not pretend like the refs are the reason we lost. We just got to be better"
Haliburton after Game 2 vs. Knicks pic.twitter.com/zxuGZHj2K1
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 9, 2024
Although he was frustrated and wanted more consistency from the refs, Haliburton was honest about the actual reason Indiana lost the game:
“At the end of the day, we got outplayed … They outplayed us. Let’s not pretend like the refs are the reason we lost. We just got to be better.”
His teammate, TJ McConnell, echoed a similar sentiment during his postgame press conference.
TJ McConnell on Rick Carlisle's "small market" comments regarding calls
"We love Rick showing that type of energy on the court, but that's not the feeling that we have in the locker room. We're not going to sit here and blame officials. We gotta be better. It's just that simple" pic.twitter.com/v0k58WFtlI
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 9, 2024
McConnell also said that the locker room doesn’t want to blame officials and that the players on the court simply have to play better.
He said that New York was a better rebounding team and played with more energy during the game.
