The Pacers miserable defeat exposed the problem! The abandoned meritorious officials in the last quarter were questioned

In the fifth life-and-death game in the NBA Finals, the Pacers lost to the Thunder 120-109, and fell behind 2-3 in the series. This game became another controversial focus in head coach Carlisle's coaching career - his on-the-spot command was angrily criticized by fans for "scratch moves and series of blows", and the script of the team's collapse in the final quarter made the home audience collectively silent.

Fatal mistake 1: Abandoning "Fire-fighting Heroes" McConnell

When the game entered the final quarter, McConnell, who scored 13 points in a single quarter, suddenly "disappeared". The point guard, who led the team to a 2-point difference with a 6-minute 6-minute 8-for-8 shot in the third quarter, was hidden in the first 8 minutes of the fourth quarter and was sent back to the court only when he was behind the score in the last 3 minutes. The on-site commentator couldn't help but sigh: "It's like cutting off the only safety rope on the edge of a cliff. "The fan forum was instantly flooded with comments from "Carlisle to be completely crazy."

Fatal error 2: Persistence "Tactics of "two-man" have caused bad consequences

When Halliburton was in a sluggish state due to injury and Nemhard made consecutive blackshots, Carlisle was still obsessed with letting this pair of backcourt control the ball. At the critical moment of the final quarter, the two made only 3 goals in total 12 shots, and Nemhard was intercepted by his opponent three times on the defensive end. What's even more ironic is that when the commentator shouted "Give the ball to Siakam!", the All-Star forward only made 4 shots in the whole quarter. The fans were heartbroken: "Does this need to be taught to let those who can score? "

Fatal error 3: The defensive strategy collapsed completely

When the Thunder suddenly launched a small lineup in the fourth quarter, no one in the Pacers could limit the opponent's breakthrough. Data shows that the Thunder scored 18 points through fast breaks in the final quarter, while the Pacers made up 7 mistakes in a single quarter. The defensive assistant stomped his feet in a hurry on the sidelines, but Carlisle's timeout adjustment has never been effective. After the game, the quarrels from the locker room corridor were vaguely heard. It is reported that McConnell expressed strong dissatisfaction with Carlisle's employment in the player channel. When asked why not reuse Siakam, Carlisle vaguely said: "We need to keep pace..." As soon as this was said, even the reporter couldn't help rolling his eyes.

According to insiders, Pacers management has held an emergency meeting. If you want to complete a Jedi counterattack in Oklahoma, you must do three things: 1) Give McConnell at least 20 minutes of stable playing time 2) Enable Holiday's plan to replace Halliburton 3) Give Siakam more singles opportunities. As veteran Turner said: "We cannot hand over the task to two iron machines, they need to hand over the ball to the person who can end it. "

At this moment, the Pacers' locker room was filled with anxiety and unwillingness. When the final whistle sounded, Carlisle's figure walking towards the channel alone seemed to indicate that the suspense of this series was heading towards the end - unless they could completely break the curse of "failing according to the established script" in the life and death battle of G6.