'We weren't giving up': Why Rick Carlisle went to end of bench so early in fourth quarter
BOSTON -- Prior to Thursday's fourth quarter, veteran wing Doug McDermott hadn't played in a game in six days and hadn't played in a game in which the outcome was still in any way in doubt since the Pacers' first round series against Milwaukee. However, McDermott was on the floor to start the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics with Indiana facing a sizable but not insurmountable 13-point deficit.
He played the entire quarter as the Pacers drifted toward a 126-110 loss at TD Garden giving the Celtics a 2-0 lead as the series heads back to Indianapolis for Game 3 on Saturday. Coach Rick Carlisle later dug further into the end of his bench playing forwards Jarace Walker and Kendall Brown, and center Jalen Smith, all of whom have played limited to negligible minutes in the playoffs. They got in a little earlier than Carlisle would normally empty the bench even when facing a double-figure deficit. Meanwhile, starters and rotation players other than rookie guard Ben Sheppard and third-year center Isaiah Jackson played limited minutes as the Pacers never made a real push to cut into the deficit.
Carlisle was asked why he went to the end of the bench that early.
"To look at some guys that I thought needed a look," Carlisle said. "McDermott went in there and played well. Isaiah Jackson brought a lot of fight to the game. Jalen Smith hasn't had much of an opportunity to play in the playoffs, so I wanted to see where he was at. We weren't giving up, but it was an opportunity to get some energetic fresh guys in there to fight. They did some good things."
The Pacers announced early in the fourth quarter that All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton would miss the rest of the game with left leg soreness, which Carlisle later acknowledged was a left hamstring issue. Haliburton missed 10 games with a left hamstring strain earlier this season.
However, Haliburton was one of three starters who never touched the floor in the fourth quarter. Small forward Aaron Nesmith and center Myles Turner also sat out the entire period. Turner had three fouls and Nesmith had four.
All-Star power forward Pascal Siakam, who scored 28 points on 13 of 17 shooting, was in the game to start the period but checked out with 9:25 to go and never returned. Shooting guard Andrew Nembhard played four minutes and 34 seconds in the period but was pulled for good at the 4:51 mark. Forward Obi Toppin and veteran point guard T.J. McConnell -- the Pacers super subs who entered Thursday's game ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively among bench players in total points in the playoffs -- played 4:52 and 2:35 in the period respectively.
"The guys who had played to that point, Pascal was very tired," Carlisle said. "Aaron had four fouls and he was tired. That was it."
Meanwhile Smith played 6:45 after playing a total of about 21 minutes since Game 1 of the Bucks series including just 57 seconds in Game 1. Walker played 4:51, much of it as the point guard, and Brown played 3:15. With 4:33 to go and the Pacers down 113-97 the Celtics had starters and rotation players in, but the Pacers had Walker, McDermott, Smith, Sheppard and Jackson on the floor. Sheppard and Jackson have been in the rotation but as the eighth and ninth players.
The Pacers were outscored 33-30 in the fourth quarter. They were never down more than 19 points in the period, but they were never close than 13 after Siakam went out. The Pacers shot 12 of 20 for the period and Nembhard and Siakam scored just six of the 30 points so the bench had some production, but the Celtics also made 10 of 18 shots.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why Rick Carlisle went to the end of his bench in the fourth quarter
