Indiana Pacers Postgame Media Availability (vs. Toronto Raptors) | February 26, 2024

Indiana Pacers Postgame Media Availability (vs. Toronto Raptors) | February 26, 2024

Tough game uh no excuses you know I thought Toronto really made a point of making it difficult on Tyrese um and you know as the game went on and we were struggling you know matan’s shot making in the second half particularly in the third quarter you know held Us in the

Game I think we get that got down 12 and he kind he single-handedly kept in the game so you know he was making some hellacious and really heroic type shots you know um and we just weren’t able to get over the over the hump in the game and it was

Uh it was tough it was disappointing you know I thought we fought hard but there was just some frustration that we needed to um work through a little better so it’s one of those games we got to learn from um grow from from and then you know bounce back on Wednesday feel

Like you guys never strung together enough stops to really get over that hump as you described would you feel like got away from you defensively tonight yeah and you know Toronto plays the fastest Pace in the league and uh you know let’s see here fast break point

They had 26 they had 43 last game so we did better there but they just uh they just got in the paint too too often and you know 78 pain points you’re going to lose most of the time and so you know that was an area we needed to do better

Disappointing because I think in the last five games um I think we were ranked in the top five in the league defensively you know we had really picked it up over that stretch and this is how hard it is in the NBA so um you know we got a

Regroup tomorrow’s an off day come in here Wednesday we got naal TV here and uh Zion coming in and there’ll be plenty of challenges did you think it was a a guard your yard thing what specifically do you think led to so many pay points

For them I think 78 the number you just said is one of the highest you can it’s kind of a youname it type thing you know it’s it was you know transition counts as pain points um cuts drives and ones um there were a lot of different

Things and so we needed to be better um you just disappointing but you know we got to we got to bounce back from it mentioned what they were doing defensively with Tyrese what did what did you see that they were doing to kind of contain him in ways that hasn’t

Really happened for a long time this season well he had he had an off night too so you know I don’t want to give too much of the credit to them um but you know I think I’ll look at the film and you know there’s there’s there’s certainly some things I could have

Helped our team with that that I that I didn’t do so I got to figure out what those are and and be better next game you mentioned Ben at the beginning I mean it’s obviously I think he Al also had I think nine rebounds I think five

Or six assists just what impressed you by about his allaround game you know on top of what he was able to do he’s rebounding well um you know everybody took a step back defensively tonight and but he he’s been he’s made great strides defensively this year um

You know we know can put the ball in the Hole uh and again like that stretch in the second half you know he was he was out of this world you know simple as that I mean we couldn’t get anything going and and he just rose up

And made some you know um just tremendously difficult shots Pascal obviously had 27 as well I guess what impress you about him and also just you know when you’re having an off night from T re how big was at least to get you know your your kind of next two

Perimeter options to get going like that to at least keep you in it look we’ve gone back and forth this year you know on nights when our starters haven’t haven’t had great nights our bench has picked us up and vice versa um you know our bench was was

Pretty damn good tonight um but we’re a team we win and lose as a team it’s it’s as simple as that and we got to fire we got to figure out the best way to to fire on all cylinders as best we can um you know we allowed them to shoot 55

From the field and 43 from three you know and we shot you know 46 and 31 I mean it’s just going to be tough um so you know defensively um we needed to be a lot better and when your defense is better your offense works better almost universally

Yeah um Rick I know you said no excuses so I’m not trying to give you one I’m just wondering if playing the fastest paced team in the league is kind of a recipe for disaster on the second night of a back toback yeah it doesn’t make it easy

Um but look it’s the NBA and this is this is all part of it and look those guys had 43 fast break points against us 10 days ago and we somehow won the game game up there you know so this has just been a back and forth odd series of

Three games so far and you know we’re going to play these guys in in game number 80 of the season and um look they’re three and0 coming out of the break they’re they’re working to get into the playin or the playoffs and I’d say they’re pretty legit right now and

So um you know give them credit for how they played and you know we’re we’re just going to have to be a better team team come Wednesday night and about consistency um maen as good as he was tonight has you know does some of this too is that just being a

Young player or is there something else there that you see that he’s got something in him to get you know more more like tonight than the four and fivepoint games yeah I mean he’s grown a lot this year now his overall numbers are down but his efficiency is

Significantly up from the field and from three and so you know those are very good signs and you know all along it it’s been about you know his development being equal toward offense and defense you know we need him to be a great two-way player you know he needs

To be great on offense and he needs to be able to take a matchup every night and that’s a hard thing to do um you know I believe he has the capacity to take on those kinds of challenges but man it is a it is a tonight he had to

Deal with Barrett you know and and Barrett was was taking the ball at him and trying to take it through him and you know that’s how these matchups are going to be every single night so he’s learning a lot um he’s growing a lot you know these these these big scoring

Nights are are signs of of what he’s capable of um but consistency is is always going to be a challenge with young players and he’s he’s getting more consistent I I just think it’s unrealistic to expect you know 30-point games out of him on a consistent basis

It’s right now it’s just you know we and we’re a team that needs to strike a balance so um you know having a guy that can rise up and and do some of the things he did in the third quarter you know that really helped us tonight um on

The one hand on the other hand we’re not an ISO team when we isolate we’re not very good and we got into doing too much to that tonight and we got to get back to moving the ball and playing pace for basketball Ben last night the defense the rebounding tonight tying your career

High more rebounding five assists where where are you seeing yourself you know hitting a new are you seeing yourself hit a new level right now are you feeling some consistency what’s kind of gone into this stretch for you um no I’m just I’m just trying to keep

Uh the game simple you know obviously I’m you know at a different unit different lineup so um pretty much just got have to adjust and um you know trying to create for my my teammates work did you put into that pull up three of this offseason even as

This season has progressed uh a lot a lot you know I think you know it’s one of my go-to moves um I’ve been doing that since you know high school so uh you know that’s something that I’ve keep you know U working on Raptors had

78 points in the paint in this game what did you feel was the key of the breakdowns for you guys that allowed them to just keep putting that pressure on the rim I think uh ball pressure ball pressure was one thing that you know we

Could have we should have um you know um have an impact on you know starting the game um but you know defense was our main thing you know and I’m going say it um I was really bad on defense tonight you know I take you know all uh

Accountability so you know I’m looking for it to be better next game just uh to go back to the shooting I guess what you know what kind of got you rolling I guess I mean it seemed like one shot went in and then you really felt like

You could kind of hit anything is you know just what kind of got you in into a Groove tonight man you know just I was confident stepping into my shot um you know I know I work you know really hard so I seen the first one go in I took the

Next one the next one went in and you know it just kept going so pretty much just confident pulling up I think you and Pascal combined for for 62 I mean just what it seemed like you two started to work well together especially in the

In in the third and in the fourth when you guys were working on the comeback I mean just what kind of chemistry do you feel like you’re you’re getting with him uh playing more with him obviously with this unit uh I mean it’s you know it’s

Great playing with you know a guy like Pascal um who creates so much attention um he’s so great you know when he has the ball in his hands that he creates a lot of you know distraction for uh you know the defense so pretty much just

Trying to feed off of that um you know and taking the open shot did you guys you obviously they were committing a lot to Tyrese and he had a pretty rough night did you guys see it kind of as your responsibility there to pick up you

Know some slack there I guess and did you feel like you guys were able to do that and you know did you see I guess opportunities for as what they were dedicating to Tyrese for sure I mean you know um Tyrese has been hot you know

He’s been on a hot streak um everybody know who tyes is you know so obviously um having a bad night for him you know has a lot of impact on us you know but you know it’s it’s also a thing where we need to step up um you know so I

Mean we have a lot of guys on the bench you know who’s ready to come in the game and and have an impact you know but uh the main focus for us was was was the defense and that’s the reason why we lost tonight you mentioned it feeling

Like individually you didn’t have a great defensive game what what stands out to you in terms of what you didn’t like about how you performed defensively just effort you know I just feel like I can’t have any excuses uh you know just to come in the game and

Because you know I may be hurt you know some some places but if I come in the game there’s no like oh you know my leg hurt or you know so all my effort needs to be better and it will be better so is this progress for you I’m

Being serious that you scored 34 and I realize in a loss you’re not going to step there and be happy but you scored 34 and you’re just down on yourself for the defense is this I mean would you have been this I don’t know would you

Have been this way last year if you died a big game and not played well defensively would you jump on the sword like you just did for sure I mean you know obviously last year was different um this year every game matters you know every game you know we can’t lose a game

And go back and be like man we could have we could have been there we could have been in the fifth you know the fifth seed you know some stuff like that so um I think I would I think I would have had the same reaction uh not as

Much for sure but um you know as my years in the NBA Advance you you know like my role is going to get bigger and bigger so I just got to be aware of you know what I can do to to help my team wi and then one more thing about that they

Rick talks about your offense is better when the defense is is good you’re saying your defense wasn’t good how are you how are you able to kind of flip the switch I’m not saying it was it good I’m just saying you know it could have been better could have been better um you

Know but you know these are things that I’m able to control um you know so that’s the beauty of it it’s just about me Pascal never felt like you guys got you know the sort of consistency you needed on the defensive end to get over the

Hump make a full comeback in this game did you feel the same way and why do you feel like that was the case um yeah I mean I think they they made a lot of good plays like just on cuts and and um different things where you know um we

Just we just Wen weren like as present you know on defense um which against a team like that you know like they they running they’re moving um and they cut a lot so we got we got to be you know in sync I thought you know on defense

Weren’t you know we had good periods where you know it was good and then it just wasn’t sustainable like for um longer periods of time which it’s needed in games like this you know second out of back toback like you you got to um your defense got got to help you you

Know like in those moments and and we’re able to do that you played for that team literally earlier this season you know the the pace they play at and how the cuts can come for a full 24 second possession like is it do it just become harder as a possession continues when

You’re rotating to to figure out where everybody is cuz I feel like they were in the paint all the time today yeah no and and and I think I think they again they have more energy than us today and um they played faster um and and like

You said like they they got us a lot on like just just cuts and and different things and and in the paint you know like we can’t we can’t really have that we got to be able to um stop the first action you know and make them go into

Second third options you know like and I thought you know it was a lot of just like Cuts layups you know what you think of what Benedict Maan did tonight on on the offensive end specifically yeah no I thought it was special I I thought he

Plays he played very well he made some tough shots like um which he can do um and and you know like he was he was rolling out there you know I thought I thought he play he played very well on offense and and and that’s something that you can definitely build on they

Obviously dedicated a lot to taking you know Tyrese out and obviously he had a rough night how did you feel about the way that you kind of you know adapted to that and were able to get your shots and kind of uh keep you guys um yeah no

Obviously like we know like he’s gonna get a lot of attention and there’s G to be games like that where you know like the team is just going to focus on him like a lot of double teams like all those things like um that’s just the

Type of player that he is and what he commends on offense and I think that you know once those games like that you know just just continue to play um and and we we all have to like you know play a role into into just just coming together um

Maybe try to find him easier shots you know um but other than that like I think he always makes a right play and and and I think we just got to like yeah once he’s double team and all that stuff like we got to figure out a way to to be

Effective you know on on you know with other guys just what do you think opened up for you well individually obviously to kind of keep you guys you know in U I mean I think like just Pace like just playing a little fast um and and and

Continue to attack like trying to find the little mismatches and and and you know scor in the pain like which you know I think we got to continue to do that you know as a team and and and and I feel like I’m able to do that so like

I got to be able to do that and also once they help you know because I know they helped also like just make the right plays um but but for me just um second out of back Tob back just trying to be as as aggressive as I can you know

Like and and you know we had good parents and we all got to get better um I think you know these games are super important and and and and I and I think that we we put a lot of pressure on just like oh man like we’re supposed to win

These games against certain teams like I mean this is the NBA like everyone everyone is good and and no matter what the team record is you know like um we should just go play basketball at the end of the day like it’s going to happen that we’re going to lose some team some

Games that we we felt like we should have won you know no matter what what that know however we see in our heads or the records but at the end of the day like it’s just the game like we got to go out there and play and and sometimes

You lose some sometimes you’re going to win some but I think we just got to be more consistent in winning more in a row and I thought we had a nice little run but um you know unfortunately that today we lost but we got to move forward we

Got to move forward um focus on the next game and and and stay together and I think that would be okay I know we talked earlier when you said you felt like uh you you needed to figure out where your spots were to be assertive

And and you had to kind of figure out where you kind of fit and all that when it was your time to kind of take over how do you feel like You’ progressed since then I’m getting better I’m getting better I’m trying um I think that again like our offense is not like

Super focused on on just individual you know like we we play you know such a a pace kind of like know and and play and I just got to you know figure out myself in that um and and I think that you know the more we we we start to understand

Like the group that we have and and I think that you know coach is going to you know like do do his part on like just figuring out how to um be fast and just and and and and play fast and also you know when to you know like really

Get into something and and and slow down the game so um I think that’s that’s going to take time but we got we gotta we got goals and we want to get to that and and I’m just I’m a team player you know I’m just trying to you know figure

Out how we can we can do and the most games we can win the better for for me and and for us

Rick Carlisle, Bennedict Mathurin, and Pascal Siakam speak with the media following the Pacers game against the Raptors on Monday night.

0:00 – Rick Carlisle
8:04 – Bennedict Mathurin
13:01 – Pascal Siakam