Are the Pacers not getting fair treatment from refs?

[blueNorange]

It's at least partly because of the refs. Yes, sure "don't put yourself in a position where a few bad calls by refs decide the game" I know I know. But that game 1 was just brutal. Pacers strip the ball from Brunson, about to fast break - foul call! Sure they overturned it on challenge but it stopped the Pacers momentum. Nesmith deflects the ball, Pacers about the fast break - kick ball! Sorry you can't challenge this blatantly incorrect call. Should be Pacers fast break, instead it's a Knicks 3. No worries, Pacers still in position to have a chance to win, big final possession... moving screen on Turner that yes, technically is a moving screen but just isn't called like that during most games - like getting a speeding ticket for going 51 in a 50 zone.

sorry, if you allow 121 and 130 points you don’t deserve to win

play defense, get a stop

To be fair... what is the magic number that deserves a win?

117?
121? Oops. Nope. We've already decided that's too much.

the knicks are playing the pacers style of uptempo, and are beating them at their own game -- only except they're still playing defense where as the pacers game plan is giving up layups just so they can leak out and get a fastbreak.

[Nuntius]

i will always love other fan bases complaining how physical the knicks are

your team is just soft

Which fan base is complaining about New York's physicality exactly? Because it definitely isn't Indiana's fan base complaining about the physicality. Not on RealGM, at least.

Mostly Philly's, but Brooklyn's "fanbase" has yapped about it too

Hey, as long as people do not blame Indiana's fanbase then it's alright with me. Other fanbases can do what they want

[Nuntius]

Of course the Pacers are not getting fair treatment from the refs but that's what happens for almost every playoff team on the road. Let's see what the calls are in Indiana. Have a feeling a ton of New York fans will be complaining about games 3-4.

Bottom line in my opinion, is the more aggressive team gets the calls. New York has been the most aggressive team in the first two games.

For real!

I don't think it's a good look for Carlisle to be publicly complaining about this. Focus on what you can do to help. Making excuses and blaming others isn't gonna do anything positive.

Carlisle is just doing this so he gets more calls in Game 3. He probably will.

On a serious note, this is exactly what this is about. You don't get a favorable whistle on the road in the playoffs. That's what having homecourt advantage is all about. Your crowd pushing the refs towards making calls in your favor.

[Capn'O]

i will always love other fan bases complaining how physical the knicks are

your team is just soft

Which fan base is complaining about New York's physicality exactly? Because it definitely isn't Indiana's fan base complaining about the physicality. Not on RealGM, at least.

Mostly Philly's, but Brooklyn's "fanbase" has yapped about it too

Boston has become invested as well Pacers fans seem mostly happy to be here.

[jkvonny]

i will always love other fan bases complaining how physical the knicks are

your team is just soft

Hhmmm. Who's that?

Its mainly the ones on the east coast. Your rivals (Sixers, Nets , Celtics etc).

[Billl]

Meh. I watched and didn't think it was called lopsided. The knicks just up the physicality and the pacers didn't match, especially on the glass. Seemed like the knicks got every rebound in the second half. Also, the call carlisle was all worked up over was a really blown call by one ref. The refs huddled and overruled with the correct call. They got the call right and nobody had to challenge or use a timeout. It would be nice if the refs did that a little more often.

[jehosafats]

I'm not fan of either of these teams, but I can say I've seen several instances where the refs swallowed their whistles on egregious, plain as day fouls, sometimes at the rim, other times in the open floor, specifically when the Pacers had the ball.

In game 2, the refs let Hart push Halliburton as he was dribbling from behind. They let him full on push the ballhandler who wasn't facing him from behind. He could've face-planted and got injured. When they didn't call that or a blatant strike on the wrist as Nesmith drove to the basket shortly afterwards, that made me stop and question what was happening with the officiating. The late game officiating SNAFUS in Game 1, which drove all the momentum to the Knicks, suggests there is some there there.

[Nuntius]

Which fan base is complaining about New York's physicality exactly? Because it definitely isn't Indiana's fan base complaining about the physicality. Not on RealGM, at least.

Mostly Philly's, but Brooklyn's "fanbase" has yapped about it too

Boston has become invested as well Pacers fans seem mostly happy to be here.

That's because we, the fans, are indeed happy to just be here. We have exceeded our season expectations. We're already ahead of schedule. We were tied for the 7th worst record in the league last year. Before the season started, most people didn't even think we'd make the playoffs. Sure, the Siakam trade did raise this team's expectations but, still, a playoff series win was considered unlikely.

This series is going to be an amazing building block for our young team. Going from no playoff experience at all to playing a gritty and resurgent Knicks team in MSG is a huge, huge difference. The Knicks will likely beat us but we couldn't have asked for a better playoff opponent here. This series will do wonders for our mental makeup.

[Capn'O]

Mostly Philly's, but Brooklyn's "fanbase" has yapped about it too

Boston has become invested as well Pacers fans seem mostly happy to be here.

That's because we, the fans, are indeed happy to just be here. We have exceeded our season expectations. We're already ahead of schedule. We were tied for the 7th worst record in the league last year. Before the season started, most people didn't even think we'd make the playoffs. Sure, the Siakam trade did raise this team's expectations but, still, a playoff series win was considered unlikely.

This series is going to be an amazing building block for our young team. Going from no playoff experience at all to playing a gritty and resurgent Knicks team in MSG is a huge, huge difference. The Knicks will likely beat us but we couldn't have asked for a better playoff opponent here. This series will do wonders for our mental makeup.

It's a good thing these other Eastern Conference teams are out here yapping because otherwise us New Yorkers wouldn't know what to do with our hands.

Y'all definitely exceeded expectations. It's a fun, young team. You should take at least one in Indy.

[cgf]

I'm not fan of either of these teams, but I can say I've seen several instances where the refs swallowed their whistles on egregious, plain as day fouls, sometimes at the rim, other times in the open floor, specifically when the Pacers had the ball.

In game 2, the refs let Hart push Halliburton as he was dribbling from behind. They let him full on push the ballhandler who wasn't facing him from behind. He could've face-planted and got injured. When they didn't call that or a blatant strike on the wrist as Nesmith drove to the basket shortly afterwards, that made me stop and question what was happening with the officiating. The late game officiating SNAFUS in Game 1, which drove all the momentum to the Knicks, suggests there is some there there.

So I pulled this play up on leaguepass (1:03:09) and though it could easily be called a foul...and probably would've been were this a regular season game...you're over dramatizing what happened. Haliburton wasn't thrown to the ground and almost injured. He didn't even lose his dribble.

Hart causes Haliburton to stumble as he goes out towards the wing/corner and there's enough extension to call a foul, but the Pacers retain the ball, run their offense and then get stuffed by OG, sparking a fast break the other way. This crew let plenty of stuff like that go in this game against both teams.


When was this Nesmith foul supposed to have occurred? Are you talking about Anunoby's block?

[KOA]

Just out of curiosity, is hand-checking now legal again in the NBA? Pacers are doing it almost every possession - 2 hands out on Brunson or any other player on the perimeter. I wonder if the plays Indiana submitted are on both sides of the ball, because I could see them getting called for a foul at least on every other possession.

[jehosafats]

I'm not fan of either of these teams, but I can say I've seen several instances where the refs swallowed their whistles on egregious, plain as day fouls, sometimes at the rim, other times in the open floor, specifically when the Pacers had the ball.

In game 2, the refs let Hart push Halliburton as he was dribbling from behind. They let him full on push the ballhandler who wasn't facing him from behind. He could've face-planted and got injured. When they didn't call that or a blatant strike on the wrist as Nesmith drove to the basket shortly afterwards, that made me stop and question what was happening with the officiating. The late game officiating SNAFUS in Game 1, which drove all the momentum to the Knicks, suggests there is some there there.

So I pulled this play up on leaguepass (1:03:09) and though it could easily be called a foul...and probably would've been were this a regular season game...you're over dramatizing what happened. Haliburton wasn't thrown to the ground and almost injured. He didn't even lose his dribble.

Hart causes Haliburton to stumble as he goes out towards the wing/corner and there's enough extension to call a foul, but the Pacers retain the ball, run their offense and then get stuffed by OG, sparking a fast break the other way. This crew let plenty of stuff like that go in this game against both teams.


When was this Nesmith foul supposed to have occurred? Are you talking about Anunoby's block?

That was the play. I don't feel as though I made it more dramatic than it was, but you can see how that was an easy call they somehow missed.

In terms of the Nesmith, the block was practically all wrist. You can see it on the replay. Them missing that is somewhat understandable. But the push with the extension, and no call, did make me question the officiating.

[cgf]

I'm not fan of either of these teams, but I can say I've seen several instances where the refs swallowed their whistles on egregious, plain as day fouls, sometimes at the rim, other times in the open floor, specifically when the Pacers had the ball.

In game 2, the refs let Hart push Halliburton as he was dribbling from behind. They let him full on push the ballhandler who wasn't facing him from behind. He could've face-planted and got injured. When they didn't call that or a blatant strike on the wrist as Nesmith drove to the basket shortly afterwards, that made me stop and question what was happening with the officiating. The late game officiating SNAFUS in Game 1, which drove all the momentum to the Knicks, suggests there is some there there.

So I pulled this play up on leaguepass (1:03:09) and though it could easily be called a foul...and probably would've been were this a regular season game...you're over dramatizing what happened. Haliburton wasn't thrown to the ground and almost injured. He didn't even lose his dribble.

Hart causes Haliburton to stumble as he goes out towards the wing/corner and there's enough extension to call a foul, but the Pacers retain the ball, run their offense and then get stuffed by OG, sparking a fast break the other way. This crew let plenty of stuff like that go in this game against both teams.


When was this Nesmith foul supposed to have occurred? Are you talking about Anunoby's block?

That was the play. I don't feel as though I made it more dramatic than it was, but you can see how that was an easy call they somehow missed.

In terms of the Nesmith, the block was practically all wrist. You can see it on the replay. Them missing that is somewhat understandable. But the push with the extension, and no call, did make me question the officiating.

Saying he could've face-planted and gotten injured was what felt over-dramatic to me. I mean he could've, if he were an 140lb HSer, but no professional athlete is going to getting injured from that bump...though I agree it could've been called where this a regular season game.

But this was the same crew that worked the rockfight between the Nuggets & Wolves in game 2. They think playoff basketball is supposed to look like playoff hockey and I don't think anyone broke it to them that hand checking is now a foul. So they swallowed their whistles a lot both ways.


They show a replay of that Nesmith noncall that you're talking about at 1:04:10 on Leaguepass. If you slow it down, both of the angles they show look like OG makes contact with the ball first, and then...after his fingers have already hit the ball...their wrists bang together. So that was a correct noncall, and would've been even in the regular season.

Although that was really bang-bang and you have to go frame by frame to clearly see whether OG gets the ball first or their wrists connect first. But that second replay they show makes it pretty clear that OG's hand starts to bend back when his fingers hit the ball and then the wrists touch.

Though I may be biased

[Scalabrine]

Meh. I watched and didn't think it was called lopsided. The knicks just up the physicality and the pacers didn't match, especially on the glass. Seemed like the knicks got every rebound in the second half. Also, the call carlisle was all worked up over was a really blown call by one ref. The refs huddled and overruled with the correct call. They got the call right and nobody had to challenge or use a timeout. It would be nice if the refs did that a little more often.

I think the reason he was mad about the overturn is because they didn't overturn the kickball that wasn't in Game 1. That was a huge call that, while I don't think guaranteed the Pacers a win, it would he put them up 1 with a minute or so left. Perhaps a ref even said that they saw it his hand and not kick but they didn't get the chance to overrule it (thats just my personal theory). It's fair to be mad, but in the long run, he really hurt his team by getting two techs in a nail biter, especially considering that the refs ended up getting the call right, which is all that anybody should want here regardless of outcome.

[cgf]

Meh. I watched and didn't think it was called lopsided. The knicks just up the physicality and the pacers didn't match, especially on the glass. Seemed like the knicks got every rebound in the second half. Also, the call carlisle was all worked up over was a really blown call by one ref. The refs huddled and overruled with the correct call. They got the call right and nobody had to challenge or use a timeout. It would be nice if the refs did that a little more often.

I think the reason he was mad about the overturn is because they didn't overturn the kickball that wasn't in Game 1. That was a huge call that, while I don't think guaranteed the Pacers a win, it would he put them up 1 with a minute or so left. Perhaps a ref even said that they saw it his hand and not kick but they didn't get the chance to overrule it (thats just my personal theory). It's fair to be mad, but in the long run, he really hurt his team by getting two techs in a nail biter, especially considering that the refs ended up getting the call right, which is all that anybody should want here regardless of outcome.

I dunno about that. I think he sensed his team had already lost the plot so he a) wanted to take the heat off them, and b) wanted to put the pressure on the refs before games 3 & 4. Getting tossed and fined showed his team that he had their backs, and put more pressure on the refs to give them the home-cooking down in Indy.

[gavran]

That's what having homecourt advantage is all about. Your crowd pushing the refs towards making calls in your favor.

Tell that to fans in Philly.

[Trey24]

Pacers as a whole have been whining babies all season long. Their sense of entitlement when they haven't done anything worthy of it has been disgusting this season, starting with Tyrese "discontinued dribble" Haliburton.

I am the first to be critical of refs, but outside of a couple of calls in this series I think the reffing has been similar to each side. Using it as a scapegoat for why they lost the last game after coming out totally flat in the 2nd half because they let their guard down is just the Pacers being the Pacers.

[cgf]

That's what having homecourt advantage is all about. Your crowd pushing the refs towards making calls in your favor.

Tell that to fans in Philly.

TBF, that's pretty much exactly what happened in philly. The home fans influenced the refs to favor the Knicks in all 5 games

[flow]

Game 1 was absolutely brutal. Pacers have legit complaint that the refs took the game from them.

Game 2 was also bad, but Indy lost it on their own.

.

[cgf]

Pacers as a whole have been whining babies all season long. Their sense of entitlement when they haven't done anything worthy of it has been disgusting this season, starting with Tyrese "discontinued dribble" Haliburton.

I am the first to be critical of refs, but outside of a couple of calls in this series I think the reffing has been similar to each side. Using it as a scapegoat for why they lost the last game after coming out totally flat in the 2nd half because they let their guard down is just the Pacers being the Pacers.

Weird take. The pacers players have been saying all of the right things about how calls going against you is just playoff basketball, and how they need to focus on playing better at the ends of games to secure the wins, not worry about the refs.

Even Carlisle didn't come out whining the way nurse did. He just worked the refs in one press conference before the series headed to Indiana after having been very respectful following game 1...when they actually had some legitimate gripes.