Latest / Bleacher Report / Rick Carlisle, T.J. McConnell, Pascal Siakam Talk Game 7 Loss & Haliburton Injury _ 2025 NBA Finals

Transcript

Rick Carlisle, T.J. McConnell, Pascal Siakam Talk Game 7 Loss & Haliburton Injury _ 2025 NBA Finals · Bleacher Report

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: First rough.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Sorright. I first want to congratulate Mark Dagnall, one of
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: the great young coaches in all of professional sports, and
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: his team, the way this season started and everything. They
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: may have had those buses painted up back in December,
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: so they'll have a great parade. They have great fans.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: This was this was a great series. I'm so proud
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: of our players. I'm so proud of our organization. Our
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: fans showed up big time tonight. It was really moving.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: What happened with Tyresee is uh, it's just all of
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: our hearts dropped. But he will be back. I'm not
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: I don't have any medical information about what's what, what
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: may or may have happened, but he'll be back in time,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: and I believe he'll make a full recovery. So he
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: he authored one of the great individual playoff runs in
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: the history of the NBA, with dramatic play after dramatic play.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: It was just something that no one's ever seen and
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: did it as one of seventeen.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: That's that's the beautiful thing about him, As great a
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: player as he is, it's it's it's always a team thing,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: and so our hearts go out to him. But so
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: proud of of everyone and.
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: So questions.
• 2:00
  Speaker 5: First question over Rick Jamal Kallier from ESPN. Uh, you know, Tyrese,
• 2:04
  Speaker 5: we saw him greeden teammates uh on crutches after you know,
• 2:08
  Speaker 5: his chair from the locker room.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: I'm not talking about it as injury. I'm not giving
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: you I have no idea. I haven't heard anything about
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: a diagnosis or anything.
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: Just I mean just you know, at at halftime, did
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: he say anything to the team? And and the way
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: you guys kept.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: He was in, he was in the locker room, and
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: he was very much a part of a group that
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: believed that they could do this. You know, uh Nemhart
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: hit the shot at the end of the first half
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: to give us a one point lead, and then you know,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: we we needed to come out of the locker room
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: and be better. In the first five minutes of the
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: third quarter, we just we just weren't. I don't have
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: the whole sequence of events, but they they made some
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: they made some great plays, and you know, we got
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: off to a slow start and that quarter was the killer.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: And then but I you know, to me, the fourth
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: quarter and the effort that our guys poured into the
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: fourth quarter. To win the quarter by one point was epic,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: and it was just it was symbolic of what this
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: team stands for, what basketball in Indiana stands for, and
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: that there was there was no surrender. It was just,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: you know, it was all defiant, fight to the end.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: And so I told these guys coming into this that
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: you know, there's no there's no feel good scenario when
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: you get to the finals and are unable to get
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: it done, and it really hurts on the one hand,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: On the other hand, this team has given all of
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Pacer Nation something to be very proud of.
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: You touched a little bit there about how much the
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: team was able to fight in the fourth quarter, specifically
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: the first half after seeing Tyrese go down. Your thoughts
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: how they were able to battle then. And on top
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: of that, is there anything that you could share with
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: us that you said to the team after the game.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: I'm not gonna share anything. I said. It's the game
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: just I really just a tremendous amount of gratitude for
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: the character, the skill, how together they were, how hard
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: they continue to fight no matter what. I mean, you
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: don't author comebacks like this team did. Really over the
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: course of the entire season without a just an indomitable
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: competitive spirit to fight together. And that's what they were
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: and that's what they did.
• 4:37
  Speaker 6: Second Row East might have seen it from Radio Canada.
• 4:40
  Speaker 6: I coach Benedict Matren wasn't able to play in the
• 4:42
  Speaker 6: playoffs last year. What did you think about how he
• 4:45
  Speaker 6: kept you guys in the game in the fourth quarter
• 4:47
  Speaker 6: at and during his first playoff experience.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: He's a fighter, you know, and that's one of the
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: reasons I he was the first guy in the game tonight.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: I really I knew we needed him. And these moments
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: are moments that that he really he really lives for
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: as a competitor. You know, he's talked about it. I've
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: seen it. This is one of those physical types of
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: games where you know, you gotta have pit bulls out
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: there figuring out ways to get the ball in the basket,
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: get to the free throw line, get stops. It was
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: really was really proud of of how he fought from
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: start to finish. Hey, t J.
• 5:26
  Speaker 7: When Tyrese went down, how did the team react and
• 5:30
  Speaker 7: how do you feel you guys played from that point on?
• 5:39
  Speaker 8: It was a it was a tough, tough feeling to
• 5:42
  Speaker 8: see your franchise guy go down like that, But to
• 5:47
  Speaker 8: have to move on and kind of compartmentalize it is tough.
• 5:52
  Speaker 8: You know, I thought we were I thought we were fine.
• 5:55
  Speaker 8: We're we you know, I don't I don't even remember
• 5:59
  Speaker 8: the score gun in halftime, but it was we were
• 6:01
  Speaker 8: up one, So you know, I thought we did a
• 6:04
  Speaker 8: good job of kind of compartmentalizing it. Obviously we missed him,
• 6:10
  Speaker 8: but you know, we all were devastated for him and
• 6:16
  Speaker 8: obviously support him.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: Second ro Scott Scott agnesfield House files t j qing
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: tickets inside the locker room right now, What what was
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: this like after the game, knowing the season's over and
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: you guys came so close after a special year.
• 6:30
  Speaker 8: Yeah, no moral victories obviously, but deflated but proud of
• 6:37
  Speaker 8: everything we've accomplished. You know, there's no award for second
• 6:45
  Speaker 8: place obviously, so everyone's upset, but you know, hats off
• 6:52
  Speaker 8: to Okay, See, they were they were the better team today.
• 6:56
  Speaker 5: First on the left, Jamal Clayer from ESPN. We saw
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: Tie kind of greeting you guys as you came off
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: the court. You know, we heard him cheering from the
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: locker room. Just anything you can share about sort of
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: just what maybe guys said to him, or just seeing
• 7:09
  Speaker 5: him still kind of be an upbeat and trying to
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: cheer you guys on even a halftime there.
• 7:14
  Speaker 8: I mean, that's just who Tie is to go down
• 7:17
  Speaker 8: like that and be selfless and just continuing to cheer
• 7:26
  Speaker 8: for us, and even though he can't play. That just
• 7:29
  Speaker 8: I think that just speaks volumes to who Tyres Haliburton
• 7:33
  Speaker 8: is one of the greatest human beings I've come in
• 7:37
  Speaker 8: contact with. Great teammate. Obviously hurting for him, but that's
• 7:45
  Speaker 8: just who he is.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: TJ.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: You mentioned compartmentalization. That's what professional athletes do. They compartmentalize
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: all the time. I can't imagine though, that it was
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: easy or even you were even able to do that
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: in this situation, given the magnitude of both the game
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: and the injury.
• 8:06
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean when it when it happened, I think
• 8:08
  Speaker 8: a lot of us we were shaken up, and like
• 8:13
  Speaker 8: you said, that's kind of part of the job. But
• 8:16
  Speaker 8: it's hard to do when you see your your guy
• 8:19
  Speaker 8: go down like that and and have to move on
• 8:23
  Speaker 8: right away and finish the game, especially when it's that early. So,
• 8:29
  Speaker 8: you know, we came back at halftime and we were
• 8:31
  Speaker 8: all geting them a hug and telling them we support
• 8:33
  Speaker 8: him and we'll continue to support him throughout his rehab process.
• 8:38
  Speaker 9: Last ro Teacher, what you guys have been able to
• 8:40
  Speaker 9: do this season has inspired an entire city, and I
• 8:43
  Speaker 9: know the fan support has meant so much to you guys.
• 8:46
  Speaker 9: What message do you have to the fans after the season.
• 8:51
  Speaker 8: They're absolutely incredible. Just want to apologize for coming up short.
• 8:59
  Speaker 8: We wouldn't be in this position without him. They boiled
• 9:01
  Speaker 8: us to a lot of wins, and it's an honor
• 9:05
  Speaker 8: and a pleasure to play in front of them.
• 9:09
  Speaker 10: Tim Reynolds, Tim Reynolds ap t J. I apologized that
• 9:14
  Speaker 10: this was asked earlier, but the camera's got the image
• 9:16
  Speaker 10: of Tyree's outside the locker room greeting a bunch of
• 9:18
  Speaker 10: you guys. You included. What's it say about him that
• 9:22
  Speaker 10: he stayed? He could have gone to the airport already,
• 9:24
  Speaker 10: He could have gone whatever to the hotel And what
• 9:26
  Speaker 10: did you just take away from that little moment that
• 9:28
  Speaker 10: you two shared.
• 9:30
  Speaker 8: It doesn't surprise me at all. That's who he is
• 9:33
  Speaker 8: as a person. Teammate puts his ego aside constantly, and
• 9:41
  Speaker 8: he could have been in the locker room feeling sorry
• 9:43
  Speaker 8: for himself after something like that happened. But he wasn't.
• 9:48
  Speaker 8: He was up greeting us. You know a lot of
• 9:50
  Speaker 8: us were hurting from the loss, and he was up
• 9:53
  Speaker 8: there consoling us. That's That's who Tyrese Haliburton is. He's
• 9:58
  Speaker 8: just the greatest man.
• 10:00
  Speaker 11: Last question, Milroe, I guess, just was it like to
• 10:03
  Speaker 11: try to change how you're going to attack a team
• 10:05
  Speaker 11: like that on the fly? I mean, you guys have
• 10:06
  Speaker 11: had to deal with injuries in mid game a lot
• 10:08
  Speaker 11: of times this season, but they try to do it
• 10:10
  Speaker 11: in Game seven against this defense? Is what was that challenge?
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: Like?
• 10:13
  Speaker 11: What do you think he did well? And what was tough?
• 10:15
  Speaker 11: And that's it sort of.
• 10:17
  Speaker 8: You know, I think up until they went on their run,
• 10:20
  Speaker 8: you know, we were moving the ball, taking care of it,
• 10:22
  Speaker 8: and I didn't take care of it so well. Obviously
• 10:26
  Speaker 8: their pressure can really get to you. But I was
• 10:28
  Speaker 8: just trying to be aggressive and you know, had some
• 10:31
  Speaker 8: uncharacteristic turnovers, but that happens, and just proud of the
• 10:36
  Speaker 8: fight we fought to the end. And but credit, Okay,
• 10:40
  Speaker 8: see they're just they're just really good.
• 10:44
  Speaker 5: Pascal. Obviously, Tarrees goes down. Uh, just kind of what
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: were your emotions in that moment and how difficult what
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: did it take to sort of stay in the moment
• 10:53
  Speaker 5: and actually keep playing through it at that point.
• 10:55
  Speaker 12: Yeah, it was tough. Well, obviously it was just off
• 11:00
  Speaker 12: the Badgers wishing him well. I mean, it was just
• 11:03
  Speaker 12: hope for the best. But I'm just hmm, I'm I'm
• 11:08
  Speaker 12: proud of that kid, you know, he he he went
• 11:11
  Speaker 12: through so much during the year, a lot of criticism.
• 11:16
  Speaker 12: It's just it's it's a lot, you know, for for
• 11:20
  Speaker 12: young for young for young kids to go through, and
• 11:22
  Speaker 12: like the Yeah, a lot of a lot of stress,
• 11:28
  Speaker 12: a lot of you know, like and and he just
• 11:30
  Speaker 12: kept battling, man, Like, he kept fighting every single day,
• 11:33
  Speaker 12: he kept just working, and he did some incredible things
• 11:39
  Speaker 12: like this whole playoff run and and this year and
• 11:42
  Speaker 12: and yeah, like I'm just super proud of him. Obviously.
• 11:46
  Speaker 12: You know, it hurts. It hurts because we couldn't get
• 11:51
  Speaker 12: it done, you know, And and and I wanted to
• 11:52
  Speaker 12: sold bad for him, and just because I know that,
• 11:55
  Speaker 12: you know, he gave us everything, you know, everything he had,
• 11:57
  Speaker 12: and it just hurts that that he you know, he
• 12:01
  Speaker 12: couldn't he candn't see it do with us, but it's
• 12:04
  Speaker 12: just incredibly proud of him and and everything he's accomplished
• 12:08
  Speaker 12: and and and I know, you know there's there's more,
• 12:13
  Speaker 12: it's more coming and and and yeah, it's it's just
• 12:17
  Speaker 12: it's just a tough situation. But we were all behind him.
• 12:20
  Speaker 12: I mean, he was he was in a locker room,
• 12:21
  Speaker 12: you know, like talking to everyone, and and just how
• 12:24
  Speaker 12: selfless he is, you know, like he's he's going through
• 12:26
  Speaker 12: some tough times and you know, he looked out for
• 12:29
  Speaker 12: us and he wanted to be there for us, and
• 12:32
  Speaker 12: it just shows his character and and who he is
• 12:34
  Speaker 12: as a player. And one of the big reasons I'm here,
• 12:38
  Speaker 12: and and and and you know, he made it kind
• 12:41
  Speaker 12: of super fun for me to be here. H It's
• 12:48
  Speaker 12: just you know, like a couple of years ago, you know,
• 12:50
  Speaker 12: like I think, you know, basketball was just yeah, it
• 12:52
  Speaker 12: was kind of dark for me, and like, you know,
• 12:54
  Speaker 12: it was just not fun at all. And I got
• 12:57
  Speaker 12: traded here and you know, these guys, they just they
• 13:00
  Speaker 12: just gave me, you know, a boost. And and I
• 13:04
  Speaker 12: started with tie obviously, but just playing with this guy
• 13:06
  Speaker 12: has been so incredible. Just found my joy for the
• 13:09
  Speaker 12: game and and just just just playing with so much
• 13:15
  Speaker 12: you know, swagger and happiness and that's just all I
• 13:17
  Speaker 12: want to do, like as a player, man, and I've
• 13:20
  Speaker 12: I lost that for a while. And it's just so
• 13:22
  Speaker 12: incredible that I came to a team like these guys
• 13:24
  Speaker 12: and Chad kp like Herbs Herb signing, like the whole
• 13:29
  Speaker 12: you know, ownership group, like coaches Rick like you know, yeah,
• 13:36
  Speaker 12: I didn't think, like, you know, this was possible, you know,
• 13:38
  Speaker 12: just for the situation that I was in and and
• 13:40
  Speaker 12: just to see how amazing we did this year and
• 13:43
  Speaker 12: all the things that we accomplished is it's just it's
• 13:45
  Speaker 12: obviously there's no more victory because we want to win
• 13:47
  Speaker 12: and we thought, you know, like we did, you know,
• 13:50
  Speaker 12: a lot to put ourselves in a posion to win,
• 13:52
  Speaker 12: and obviously it sucks and we didn't do that. But
• 13:54
  Speaker 12: I'm super proud of everyone. And I know I'm not
• 13:56
  Speaker 12: even answering your question, but it's just I've really, I
• 14:01
  Speaker 12: really do love these guys and and I'm super appreciative
• 14:04
  Speaker 12: of the opportunity to be here. And that kind of
• 14:09
  Speaker 12: kind of gave me my you know, like that that
• 14:11
  Speaker 12: joy for the game again and and I'm just I
• 14:14
  Speaker 12: super grateful.
• 14:14
  Speaker 6: For that second Red medal.
• 14:17
  Speaker 7: Chris Woodlake CBS FO. I know you're touching on how
• 14:20
  Speaker 7: personal this season was for you. Can you realize do
• 14:23
  Speaker 7: you realize how special it was and what it meant
• 14:26
  Speaker 7: to the to the state of Indiana and really to
• 14:28
  Speaker 7: the whole NBA. I think you had a lot of
• 14:29
  Speaker 7: folks on board with being the underdog and being able
• 14:33
  Speaker 7: to get this deep into the n being fun.
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 14:35
  Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean if we we I think I think
• 14:39
  Speaker 12: we we did the right way.
• 14:40
  Speaker 10: Man.
• 14:41
  Speaker 12: That's something that I can I can proudly say. It's
• 14:45
  Speaker 12: no shortcuts. We've said all year, like we're not a
• 14:49
  Speaker 12: sexy team. We're not We're not a team that everyone
• 14:51
  Speaker 12: wants to watch. And for a while, you know, you know,
• 14:55
  Speaker 12: India was just like like nobody cares, you know, and
• 14:58
  Speaker 12: and we made people care and and that's something to
• 15:01
  Speaker 12: be proud of. And I hope you know, the fans,
• 15:04
  Speaker 12: I just want to say, like so incredible, Like the
• 15:07
  Speaker 12: support all year has been amazing, just to see how
• 15:12
  Speaker 12: the city you know, was so alive and and we
• 15:15
  Speaker 12: feel blessed that we were the like people that gave
• 15:17
  Speaker 12: him that so and you know, we're sorry, you know,
• 15:21
  Speaker 12: like we wanted to do it, you know, for Indy,
• 15:23
  Speaker 12: we want we wanted more than anything, and just just
• 15:27
  Speaker 12: for for the city, for the state, just because they
• 15:30
  Speaker 12: deserve it. Like these guys sleep, breathe basketball. And it
• 15:36
  Speaker 12: was refreshing for me, like to be in that environment
• 15:38
  Speaker 12: and to see how much, you know, basketball means to
• 15:42
  Speaker 12: a group of people. And and yeah, I'm super I'm
• 15:45
  Speaker 12: super grateful man. And and and I hope, I hope
• 15:48
  Speaker 12: you know, you guys can see that we fall hard
• 15:49
  Speaker 12: and and and were sorry, like we couldn't get it done,
• 15:51
  Speaker 12: but you know, we'll continue to fight us on the right.
• 15:56
  Speaker 8: Pscal you touched a little bit on the fans, but
• 15:58
  Speaker 8: you're just such an incredible run and you really inspired
• 16:01
  Speaker 8: the whole city.
• 16:02
  Speaker 13: So just what is your message to the fans.
• 16:04
  Speaker 12: Yeah, it's just thinking thank you so much, you know,
• 16:07
  Speaker 12: to the fans. We like some of those games, man,
• 16:12
  Speaker 12: Like I just you have flashbacks, you know just how
• 16:15
  Speaker 12: amazing the crowd was and we couldn't do it without them,
• 16:18
  Speaker 12: and and and every time we were out there, and
• 16:22
  Speaker 12: you know, the game felt like you know, it was
• 16:24
  Speaker 12: getting away. You know, we kept just just battling because
• 16:27
  Speaker 12: because we wanted to make and Diana proud, we wanted
• 16:29
  Speaker 12: to make our fans proud, and and and we we
• 16:32
  Speaker 12: tried our best, you know, and but you know, the day,
• 16:36
  Speaker 12: you know, you win some you lose something. And we
• 16:40
  Speaker 12: just got to be strong and keep going. And and
• 16:42
  Speaker 12: you know, I told everyone, like, you know, I love
• 16:44
  Speaker 12: every single one of these guys, and I wouldn't do
• 16:47
  Speaker 12: it with anybody else. And and I'm just I'm I'm
• 16:51
  Speaker 12: super proud, so proud of the team. And and you know,
• 16:57
  Speaker 12: it's hard to look and look forward in the future,
• 16:59
  Speaker 12: you know, after you lose like this. But yeah, I'm
• 17:03
  Speaker 12: I'm super super proud of my team and and and again,
• 17:06
  Speaker 12: I wouldn't go to battle with anybody else.
• 17:08
  Speaker 13: Frust right on the left from trying to pay us
• 17:11
  Speaker 13: dot com. You just mentioned you played the wide rate
• 17:13
  Speaker 13: of basketball, and want to tell you that the entire
• 17:15
  Speaker 13: trainer was amazed about how you guys put together. They
• 17:18
  Speaker 13: become your fans and Pacers fans. Nobody watched Pacers before
• 17:21
  Speaker 13: they now started and watch the pay for Paces. What
• 17:24
  Speaker 13: doesn't mean to you to demonstrate great basketball not just
• 17:28
  Speaker 13: to the state of Indiana, but around the world.
• 17:30
  Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean I think that's that's amazing and and
• 17:32
  Speaker 12: obviously I think because of the way we do it,
• 17:36
  Speaker 12: and and you know, it's not it's not the most
• 17:38
  Speaker 12: popular way. And you know, in the in the in
• 17:40
  Speaker 12: the NBA, where you know, it's all about stars and
• 17:43
  Speaker 12: and you know, teams can the team concept can get
• 17:46
  Speaker 12: kind of put to the side. And you know, we
• 17:48
  Speaker 12: we kind of show that you can be a team,
• 17:50
  Speaker 12: you know, and and and and go out there and
• 17:53
  Speaker 12: fight and and everyone played together and you haven't a
• 17:55
  Speaker 12: portue to win. Obviously we didn't do it. We didn't
• 17:57
  Speaker 12: finish it. And again it's it's no more victory like
• 18:01
  Speaker 12: but I can say that, you know, like we're happy that,
• 18:06
  Speaker 12: you know, is there's some people that can look at
• 18:07
  Speaker 12: this and be like, yeah, we like team and we
• 18:10
  Speaker 12: hope that that can set a trend for for you know,
• 18:12
  Speaker 12: the days coming forward. And again, yeah, shout China, Thank you,
• 18:17
  Speaker 12: Pascal