Rick Carlisle brought on the injured Tyrese Haliburton instead of the red-hot T.J. McConnell in the fourth quarter of Game 5 and is now facing criticism for his decision.
“Rick Carlisle and his personnel decisions cost them the game; he should have left T.J. McConnell on the court,” Kendrick Perkins said after Game 5 on ESPN. McConnell was the Pacers’ most important player in the third quarter, bringing them to within two points. He scored 13 points in that quarter alone and was unstoppable by the OKC defense. However, he was replaced by the injured Haliburton in the decisive phase at the start of the fourth quarter, and OKC pulled away again.
Bob Myers, former GM of the Golden State Warriors, agrees with Perkins. “If you’re Rick Carlisle or one of his assistants, you have to say to him, ‘Listen. Sit down. We love that you want to play.’ It was sometimes like that with Stephen Curry. ‘We know you want to play, but you can’t right now,’” he said.
Haliburton was desperate to play
Haliburton failed to make a field goal for the first time in his playoff career and was clearly not at 100 percent. “I’ve worked my whole life to be here, and I want to be out there on the court fighting and helping my team in any way I can. I was far from great today, but there’s no question in my mind that I want to play. As long as I can run, I want to play,” Haliburton said after the game.
While Haliburton finished the game with four points (0/6 FG) and a plus-minus of -13, McConnell had 18 points (8/14 FG) in 22 minutes with a plus-minus of +4.
