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Rick Carlisle Has Idea Why Pacers Are Able to Pull Off These Miracle Comebacks

No lead is safe against Indiana.

Kyle Koster

Rick Carlisle after another Pacers comeback.
Rick Carlisle after another Pacers comeback. / NBA
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The Indiana Pacers have been on a magical ride this season that's taken a unique flight path to victory on many occasions. No team in the NBA has more ridiculous come-from-behind wins that defy logic this year and few teams in recent history have even come close. Their latest came in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, overcoming a 14-point deficit over the final 2:45 of regulation to eventually stun the New York Knicks in overtime.

To put into context just how shocking the late charge was, the previous 1,414 teams that trailed by nine points or more in the final minute of a playoff game all lost.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle was asked about his team's penchant for putting together these astounding rallies during his postgame media availability and had a theory.

"We've had a lot of these games this year, we've probably had a dozen of them throughout the season," he said. "A lot of the games early we were struggling were games we had to pull out, they were clutch games when we weren't playing particularly well."

"It's a muscle," Carlisle added. "The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. It's not easy."

Indiana's ability to flex that muscle and perform historic feats of strength has now allowed them to steal home-court advantage with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line and will hang over the proceedings if and when the Knicks have another late lead.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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