The stage was set for a pivotal moment in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. With 22.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Indiana Pacers trailing by a single point, a replay review was underway following coach Rick Carlisle`s challenge. He wanted officials to determine if a foul occurred on Pascal Siakam or if Siakam was the last to touch the ball before going out of bounds. Regardless of the outcome, Carlisle`s instructions to his team were clear: if successful, they`d have possession; if not, play disciplined defense and get a stop without fouling. With little time left on the clock, the message was firm – no more timeouts. Secure the rebound and attack.
“Get the ball in Tyrese`s hands,” Carlisle stated after the game. “And look to make a play.”
The Pacers executed the plan perfectly. They got the crucial defensive stop against the league`s reigning MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, whose 15-foot fadeaway missed under tight defense from Andrew Nembhard. Aaron Nesmith grabbed a difficult rebound amidst traffic, quickly shuffling the ball to Siakam, who found Obi Toppin, who then swung it to Tyrese Haliburton near half-court with just six seconds remaining.
What followed was a shot that will be remembered as one of the most clutch in NBA Finals history. Haliburton dribbled, jab-stepped along the sideline, curled back inside the arc, and rose for a 21-foot jumper that found the net with 0.3 seconds left, clinching Game 1 for the Pacers in Oklahoma City.
While entrusting Haliburton in such a high-pressure situation might seem obvious given his penchant for hitting big shots (Game 1 was his fourth game-winner or game-tying shot in the final seconds of that playoff run), this level of faith is the culmination of years of learning and relationship building.
The offensive freedom enjoyed by the Pacers is a direct result of the bond between Carlisle and Haliburton, a connection that began the night after Indiana acquired Haliburton in February 2022. However, the foundation for Carlisle`s approach with Haliburton was laid during his tenure with the Dallas Mavericks, starting with his initial clashes with future Hall of Fame point guard Jason Kidd in 2008-09 and continuing through his experience handling another emerging superstar, Luka Doncic.
“What I learned my first year in Dallas was to give J-Kidd the ball and get out of the way, let him run the show, let him run the team,” Carlisle reflected before the NBA Finals began. “Tyrese, very similar situation, but didn`t take half a season to figure it out. The situation in Dallas with Luka was the same.”
“It`s pretty clear, when you have a player of that kind of magnitude, that kind of presence, that kind of knowledge, vision and depth, you got to let them do what they do.”
This philosophy has yielded significant returns for the Pacers, who held a 2-1 NBA Finals lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder after a 116-107 victory.
Haliburton and Carlisle have been the driving forces behind Indiana`s high-powered offense, which averaged 116.7 points per 100 possessions in the postseason. Their fast-paced style and resilience have been key to the team`s unexpected deep playoff run through the Eastern Conference.
At the heart of this success is a coach who has demonstrated the ability to adapt over time, willingly empowering his point guard.
“When he gave me that nod, that was like the ultimate respect,” Haliburton shared. “That was the ultimate trust that I could get from anybody, because he is such a brilliant basketball mind. He`s been around such great guards, great players. For him to give me that confidence, I think has really taken my career to another level.”
Empowering Jason Kidd marked a significant turning point in Carlisle`s coaching career, though it followed a period of considerable friction between the coach and the veteran point guard.
When Carlisle first arrived in Dallas, he had a reputation for being controlling. This stemmed partly from his first stint with Indiana (2003-2007), where he coached strong personalities like Metta Sandiford-Artest, Stephen Jackson, and Jamaal Tinsley. While that Pacers team achieved success, reaching the Eastern Conference finals in 2003-04, their style was meticulous, with Carlisle often calling plays on nearly every possession.
Upon joining Dallas a few years later, he initially attempted a similar level of control, even with a 35-year-old Kidd, already a nine-time All-Star. This approach did not sit well.
“It wasn`t easy for [Carlisle] to let it go,” said J.J. Barea, a former Mavericks guard who played with Kidd under Carlisle. “To be more free about it. But he knew for us to win he had to let it go. J-Kidd and him went to battle, but it worked out at the end.”
Kidd advocated for a more fluid offense, arguing that a skilled point guard could dictate the game`s flow more effectively than sideline calls, leading to better rhythm. Carlisle resisted for over half his first season with Kidd. It wasn`t until midway through the 2010-11 season, his third year coaching Kidd, that Carlisle fully released the reins. That season, the Mavericks won the championship.
Carlisle didn`t require nearly as long to give Luka Doncic control of the offense. This happened during Doncic`s Rookie of the Year campaign in 2018-19, while he was still a teenager.
Although the personal relationship between Carlisle and Doncic was often strained, their collaboration as coach and point guard produced exceptional offensive results. In Doncic`s second season, the Mavericks set what was then an NBA record for offensive efficiency.
Carlisle designed an offensive system specifically for Doncic, one that differed significantly from Kidd`s. The Mavericks adopted a heliocentric style centered on Doncic dominating the ball, utilizing pick-and-rolls heavily and surrounding him with stationary spot-up shooters for spacing.
In contrast, the Pacers are thriving with a system built around Haliburton that emphasizes playing fast and utilizing off-ball movement.
“One thing you can say about Rick is he coaches his talent,” observed Haralabos Voulgaris, a former Mavericks executive. “His system is whatever maximizes the talent that he has. He understands that the game is changing and he has to always keep on changing and learning and adapting and growing.”
“It`s not many older coaches that have had that mentality, especially ones that had success when they were younger.”
Carlisle`s history with point guards hasn`t been without difficulty. He famously clashed with Rajon Rondo a few years after Doncic`s rookie season. Rondo preferred a slower, more methodical pace, while Carlisle pushed for faster play. The rocky dynamic led to Rondo`s brief tenure in Dallas, lasting only 46 games.
“It wasn`t a good fit for either of them,” Barea commented.
Carlisle had reservations about the trade for Rondo and didn`t feel Rondo possessed the kind of talent that warranted complete offensive control, unlike Doncic or Haliburton.
“When I see Haliburton playing for Rick, he`s free, man,” Barea stated. “He looks so free out there. He looks like he`s enjoying the game. He`s playing at a great pace and with confidence. I think Rick got Haliburton`s confidence to be as high as it could be.”
The tension in Carlisle`s relationship with Doncic, which began early in Doncic`s rookie year, contributed to Carlisle`s eventual resignation from the Mavericks after the 2020-21 season. In stark contrast, Carlisle and Haliburton share a harmonious relationship, one the veteran coach has actively cultivated.
“One of the things that`s nice to see is that [Carlisle] has a good relationship with the star players or all the players on his team, it seems like,” Voulgaris noted. “Whereas in Dallas, that was probably not the case obviously. There`s some growth there.”
When Carlisle stepped down in Dallas, the Pacers were adrift, finishing 34-38 in 2020-21. They quickly seized the opportunity to hire Carlisle for his second coaching stint. The team was searching for identity, and Carlisle had a clear vision of the ideal player to build an offense around.
Tyrese Haliburton could have been a Dallas Maverick.
Based significantly on analytics models, the Mavericks rated Haliburton as the top player on their 2020 draft board. Dallas reportedly offered their two draft picks (No. 18 and No. 31) and then-rotation guard Jalen Brunson to multiple teams, attempting to move up until Haliburton was selected 12th overall by the Sacramento Kings.
“We tried like hell to get him and move up, we just couldn`t do it,” Carlisle recalled before the Finals. “When I tell you that Mark Cuban tried everything. When Mark puts his mind to something, he can usually figure something out.”
The Mavericks were unsuccessful in their trade attempts, but Carlisle remained an admirer of Haliburton`s game as he began his NBA career from afar.
When Carlisle took the Indiana job for the 2021-22 season, his initial roster lacked the kind of guard he felt he could fully empower, leading him to briefly revert to more controlling instincts.
“Rick`s first year here, we had a game where he did that, he stopped us and called a play every single possession,” said Pacers center Myles Turner, the team`s longest-tenured player. “In the dawn of this new NBA, especially in the playoffs, that stuff doesn`t work.”
The Pacers were 19-37 on February 8, 2022, when they had the chance to acquire a player who could become the team`s identity. The Sacramento Kings, looking to move one of their point guards with De`Aaron Fox on the roster, traded Haliburton to Indiana as part of a package for Domantas Sabonis.
After the trade was finalized, Carlisle immediately prioritized building a strong relationship with his new potential focal point. He arranged dinner the very next night with Haliburton and the other players acquired by Indiana, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson. For the remaining 26 games of that season, with a young Pacers team out of playoff contention, Carlisle allowed Haliburton the freedom to experiment and play improvisationally.
“You saw so many glimpses of the creativity that Tyrese exhibits, the ability to make plays with just very basic structure,” Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan commented. “He thrives in situations where there`s a little more freedom and a little less predictability.”
Heading into training camp for the 2022-23 season, Carlisle explicitly told Haliburton he would no longer call plays, effectively handing the offense over to the then 22-year-old guard. Haliburton was surprised, remembering the reputation Carlisle had among point guards.
“I was surprised,” Haliburton recalled, “Because I know what the conversation around coach [Carlisle] was, especially from point guards.”
Haliburton credits Carlisle with significantly helping his career ascend. It`s not solely the offensive freedom that contributed to Haliburton`s first All-Star selection and his first career double-double (20.7 points, 10.4 assists) in the 2022-23 season.
The development also came from work off the court, such as Carlisle teaching Haliburton how to effectively break down film. Haliburton admitted that earlier in his career, he primarily watched film of his own points, assists, and missed shots. Under Carlisle`s guidance, he learned to watch entire games with a broader perspective, specifically looking for ways to improve his teammates.
“[Carlisle`s] just a basketball savant,” Haliburton said. “All that stuff is really important. Really took my career to another level.”
Haliburton points to those initial developmental seasons in Indiana as crucial for preparing him to perform at the highest levels of the NBA Playoffs. But above all, it was the trust shown by the organization and Carlisle that boosted his confidence on the court.
“They`re going to have some ups and downs,” Carlisle noted about young players. “They`re going to make some mistakes. If they`re doing it consistent with how they`re seeing the game, the lessons learned will be more impactful.”
The lessons Carlisle himself learned earlier in his career have also proven invaluable. After a difficult beginning to his relationship with Doncic in Dallas, Carlisle made a conscious effort to establish a positive dynamic with Haliburton from the outset.
“Everybody in our league from players to coaches and executives, we all evolve,” said Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan. “Rick has evolved just like we all have. He understands that Tyrese is one of those guys. He`s got a fun-loving, joyful personality that rubs off on everybody.”
“Tyrese is the kind of guy who you can build a culture around.”
This partnership has clearly worked in Indiana. The Pacers are back in the Finals for the first time in a quarter-century, following an Eastern Conference finals appearance the previous season, marking one of the most successful two-year stretches in franchise history. At the core are Carlisle and Haliburton, two basketball minds with mutual respect, creating playoff magic together.
As Voulgaris put it, “Rick, at this stage of his career in particular, and Haliburton, just seem to be a perfect marriage.”
