Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle did not mince words following Friday’s 126-104 Game 3 defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers, calling the performance “a very poor effort” and accepting full responsibility for the team’s lack of readiness.
“We all own it,” Carlisle said during the postgame press conference. “Pretty clearly I didn’t have these guys ready for this, so I take responsibility for that.”
The Cavaliers seized control early, opening with an 11-0 run and building a 21-point halftime lead behind Donovan Mitchell’s 43-point outburst and a dominant showing on the glass.
Carlisle acknowledged the Pacers were thoroughly outworked, citing the rebounding disparity as a critical factor: “We got killed on the boards… 56-37 on the boards, 18-4 on the offensive boards.”
He emphasized that the loss had “zero to do with the officials,” adding that Indiana lacked “presence, posture, disposition” throughout the night.
Tyrese Haliburton was held to just four on 2-of-8 shooting. Carlisle admitted the All-Star guard “had a rough game” and vowed to help him get back on track.
“I gotta do more to get him involved, get him shots, get him in better positions,” Carlisle said. “He’ll be better, and I got to help him be better.”
Asked about Cleveland’s use of zone defense, Carlisle downplayed its impact, saying the Pacers have “seen every zone there is this year” and would make the necessary adjustments before Game 4.
He also praised the Cavaliers’ intensity and effort, stating, “They played desperate… We’ve got to simply fight harder from the very beginning of the game.”
When questioned about the decision to insert veteran James Johnson late in the contest, Carlisle said it was to “make a point about force and disposition,” praising Johnson’s energy and preparation.
Carlisle highlighted Bennedict Mathurin’s performance as one of the few positives, noting that the second-year guard embraced the physicality and “had a good mindset.”
Still, he made it clear that isolated individual efforts are not enough: “We can’t have four guys tied together and one guy on a possession not all there.”
On the challenge of containing Donovan Mitchell, who’s posted consecutive 40-point games, Carlisle said, “We got to make it harder on him… We can’t march him to the free throw line and give him and-ones.”
Indiana will look to regroup ahead of Sunday’s Game 4 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with the series now standing at 2-1 in favor of the Pacers.
Carlisle concluded with a message of urgency and resolve: “We’ve got 48 hours to fix it… the storyline is: we got to fight harder.”
