Rick Carlisle Believes There's 'Small Market' Bias In NBA Playoffs, But Pacers Coach Just Comes Off As Silly

Indiana coach Rick Carlisle tried not complaining. That didn't work.

Now, he is trying complaining and bias-ing. That will not work either, unless his Pacers play better after dropping their first two Eastern Conference semifinal games in the NBA Playoffs to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden - 130-121 on Wednesday and 121-117 on Monday.   

Carlisle has already sent or plans to send no less than 78 film clips from the last two games that he feels officials made incorrect calls or non-calls to the NBA office for review before his third game against the Knicks. That will be Saturday in Indianapolis (7 p.m., ESPN).

That would be 29 officiating mistakes in the opener and 49 in Wednesday's game, if you're keeping score at home.

Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle hollers at referee Josh Tiven during his team's loss at the New York Knicks Wednesday night to fall to 0-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

"I decided not to submit them (the first 29) because I just felt like we'd get a more balanced whistle tonight," Carlisle said Wednesday night. "It didn't feel that way."

GAME WITHIN THE GAME: Josh Hart Ridicules Reggie Miller

Carlisle came prepared for the press conference with copious notes after getting ejected with 33 seconds remaining. 

-At the 5:08 mark of the third quarter, he took issue with Knicks' guard-forward Josh Hart pushing Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton in the back.

"The whole world knows that Haliburton has a bad back (spasms)," Carlisle said. "And Hart comes up and SHOVES him in the back. It's all over Twitter right now, because a few people have showed it to me. JB DeRosa (a referee) is looking right at it. You can see. He's got vision of the play. And he (Hart) shoves Tyrese into the corner, and there's no whistle. Right in the back."

"That was shocking, and there were many others," Carlisle said. "I can promise you we're going to submit these tonight."

Hart did push a dribbling Haliburton hard, and it was obvious. But what Carlisle fails to mention is that Haliburton did not fall down, did not lose control of the ball, and did not get pushed out of bounds. Therefore, Hart and the Knicks gained no advantage from the contact. Usually, when neither player amid contact gains an advantage, no foul is called. And, while we feel bad that your player is hurt with back spasms, Rick, it is not the officials' job to protect the injured parts of players. Players knowing opponents' injuries and going after those tender sports is a part of the game, period.

Indiana assistant coaches try to restrain Pacers' head coach Rick Carlisle during their loss at the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

There were many other calls Carlisle could complain about, but one can infer that if he chose the above one to whine about first, then that must be one of the most egregious calls or non-calls in his mind. And nothing should have been called on that one.

With 1:19 to play, officials whistled Knicks' center Isaiah Hartenstein for double dribbling, which he did. But after Knicks coach Tom Tibodeau complained, officials said it was an inadvertent whistle and waived off the foul. That was a bad call.

"Thibs went out and argued it, and they changed it," Carlisle said. "That's what it looked like."

That was home cooking.

"I can only go by what I see," Carlisle said. "That's small beans compared to everything else."

Good point, but then Carlisle got carried away.

East Coast Bias, Small Market Bias

"Small-market teams deserve an equal shot," he said. "They deserve a fair shot, no matter where they're playing."

In Carlisle's mind, he got a double whammy by the well-known but exaggerated "East Coast Bias" and his view of what was "Small Market Bias."

Funny, though, the Knicks, who play in the No. 1 TV market in the land, certainly haven't had much history of success in recent decades from either. They have not reached the third round of the NBA Playoffs since 2000 and did not make the playoffs from 2014-20.

As far as "small markets," based on television and population numbers, the No. 25 market in the 30-team NBA is Milwaukee, and it just won the NBA title in 2021 over No.  12 Phoenix. San Antonio is the No. 24 market, and it won its fifth NBA title in 16 years in 2014 and reached the championship series in 2013. No. 26 Oklahoma City reached the NBA Finals in 2012. Denver is considered a medium market at No. 15 and just won the NBA title last season.

Indiana guard T.J. McConnell appreciates his coach's passion, but he doesn't see his team's 0-2 deficit happening because of officiating, and he says he is not alone.

"That's not the feeling that we have in the locker room," he said. "We've got to be better."

And Carlisle needs to spend more time watching film of his team's bad plays instead of the ones by the officials.

Or, he can try to get the Lakers' job. Los Angeles is the No. 2 market in the NBA.