Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle did not call timeout despite crucial Game 3

After Saturday's disappointing 114-111 loss in Indianapolis, the Indiana Pacers are down 3-0 in the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics. Indiana was missing star Tyrese Haliburton due to a hamstring injury, but almost defeated the Celtics, with Andrew Nembhard producing a career-high 32 points and nine assists. Unfortunately, Nembhard was also involved in the Pacers' last play, surrendering the ball to Boston's Jrue Holiday with four seconds remaining.

Following the game, coach Rick Carlisle was questioned about why he didn't call a timeout to set up a play on the last possession instead of bringing the ball up the court after Jayson Tatum missed a layup. As he indicated, he felt it was preferable to allow the players to make a move in transition without Boston being able to set up defence. 

As per Yahoo Sports Rick Carlisle said, "With eight or nine seconds left and you’re in transition after a miss, I trust our players to be able to create a better shot than calling timeout and having them set their defence and run our end-of-game stuff on their video and show their players.” “It’s more of a play basketball-type situation, and we’ve done well this year, trusting our players.”

Rick Carlisle has struggled with timeouts in this series,

Indiana's players were most likely fine with their coach allowing them to pick the outcome. Carlisle was upset that the refs did not call a foul on Jrue Holiday, but Nembhard accepted responsibility for the turnover following the game. 

Carlisle has struggled with timeouts in this series, however. The circumstances at the end of Game 3 reminded the coach of his inability to call a timeout late in Game 1 when the Pacers struggled to inbound the ball. Indiana made a turnover, allowing Jaylen Brown to shoot a game-tying three-pointer, sending the game into overtime. The Pacers finally defeated 133–128.

According to his statements, Carlisle did not regret his decision at the end of Game 3. However, with a 3-0 series disadvantage, he may soon have plenty of offseason time to consider his end-game approach.