JUST IN:Celtics Jaylen Brown shows how perplexed he is by the Pacers’weird’ game 2 decision

If there is one thing that this NBA postseason has shown us, it is that there are very few leads that can be considered “safe.” Teams who have lost leads of 15 points or more in the playoffs are common; in the first round, the Clippers almost pulled off a historic comeback against the Mavs, blowing a 31-point lead before ultimately winning.

That’s why it was puzzling for Pacers coach Rick Carlisle to add forward Doug McDermott to the game while his team was trailing Boston by 13 points early in the fourth quarter. McDermott had not appeared on the field since May 17 and had only played for three minutes. Throughout the whole fourth quarter, McDermott was in the game.

Carlisle continued after that. He spent ten minutes acting like Isaiah Jackson. For seven minutes, he was Jalen Smith. He spent five years as Jarace Walker.

The Pacers, who were missing Tyrese Haliburton due to a hamstring injury, lost Game 2 and fell behind 0–2.

Once more, though, this was not a 30-point romp. This was strange for Jaylen Brown of the Celtics.

Brown remarked, “It was a little surprising.” “We concentrated on winning the game; I’m not sure why that was done. That, I believe, was our main objective. However, that was undoubtedly a little strange.

Play Rick Carlisle Describes His Motivations
If Carlisle noticed something he liked from McDermott or the other members of the few minutes crew, perhaps he will turn out to be a genius. When the show returns to Indiana, he might go to Smith or Walker and extract a crucial performance from them.

After Game 2, Carlisle clarified that was his objective. He stated that he was hopeful his spirited bench players could make a difference rather than giving up on the game.

The Indianapolis Star reported that Carlisle stated, “To look at some guys that I thought needed a look.” “McDermott entered and performed admirably. Isaiah Jackson gave the game a lot of physicality. Since Jalen Smith hasn’t had many opportunities to play in the postseason, I was interested in finding out how he was doing.

Carlisle argued that the Pacers had not folded their hand, even though it appeared that way. “We weren’t giving up, but it was a chance to introduce some young, enthusiastic guys to fighting.” They made a few solid moves, he remarked.

NBA star Jaylen Brown Dismisses the NBA Snub

Brown, on the other hand, had a highly productive 37 minutes of his own, scoring 40 points on 14 of 27 field goals. While Jayson Tatum continued to struggle, shooting 9 for 20 from the field but just 1 for 7 from the 3-point range while scoring 23 points, he provided much-needed offensive stability.

Brown maintained that his performance on Thursday night was motivated by his proximity to the NBA Finals, a location he had only ever been to once in his professional life. Nevertheless, rumors persisted that Brown felt belittled for not being selected to any of the three All-NBA teams following a stellar campaign.

“Honestly, I don’t have the time to give a sh**, we’re two games away from the Finals,” Brown remarked.

Veteran sports writer Sean Deveney works for Heavy.com, covering the NBA, NFL, and MLB. With over 20 years of NBA coverage experience, including 17 years as the lead NBA correspondent for Sporting News, he has been writing for Heavy since 2019. A writer of seven nonfiction books, Deveney is the author of “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” Additional details regarding Sean Deveney