LeBron James Blasts Pacers For Execution On Pivotal Game 1 Play Vs. Celtics

BOSTON — If LeBron James was the coach of the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics, they would have done things differently at the end of regulation.

Trying to protect a three-point lead in the waning seconds, the Pacers elected to not foul and force the Celtics to chip away at the lead from the the free-throw line. Instead, Jaylen Brown hit a tough corner 3-pointer with six seconds remaining to tie the game and ultimately send it to overtime, where Boston prevailed with a 133-128 victory at TD Garden.

James surely second-guessed the decision from the Pacers and ripped them for the strategy on social media.

“And y’all still wanna know why I would foul up 3 EVERY SINGLE TIME??” James posted on the X platform.

It is a valid point from the four-time NBA champion as it would have been difficult for the Celtics to come away with a win by trading free throws. Boston also burned its final timeout to set up Brown’s game-tying trey.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said he told his team to foul in that situation, but explained why Pascal Siakam ended up not following through with that strategy.

“(Brown) caught the ball and he was face up so Pascal decided to lay off,” Carlisle said. “I understand that’s probably the right decision. You don’t want to give up the four-point play. Look, a lot of things had to go wrong for us and right for them. They did. So, we got to own it and get ready for Thursday.”