Rick Carlisle Destroys Refs After Pacers Lose to Mavericks

Rick Carlisle went after official J.D. DeRosa as soon as the horn sounded Monday night at American Airlines Center, looking for an explanation on the last play of the Indiana Pacers’ 125-122 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

Indiana had the ball on the sideline with 3.7 seconds left, down three, after calling timeout to advance it. Andrew Nembhard lobbed the inbounds pass toward Pascal Siakam at the opposite elbow. Mavericks forward Caleb Martin broke on the pass, got a hand on it, and collided with Siakam, and both players went to the floor.

Walter Clayton Jr. ran down the loose ball as time expired. No whistle blew.

Carlisle believed the Pacers had earned a trip to the free-throw line and a chance to win the game.

“It’s a football-caliber collision. It’s clearly a foul,” Carlisle said. “And we would have been shooting two free throws with three and a half seconds left. I’m at a loss for what was being looked at. And then you ask, and the response is just shocking. Our team fought their hearts out in this game. They deserved an opportunity to win the game.”

“We hurt ourselves with some mistakes, but there’s no questioning the intensity, the effort, any of that kind of stuff,” Carlisle continued. “That whistle needs to blow. It almost looks like targeting a defenseless player in a football game. So, I’m shocked.”

Siakam also said after the game that he believed he was fouled and did not get a response from the official, according to IndyStar’s Dustin Dopirak.

Siakam had 25 points when his fifth 3-pointer put Indiana ahead 63-50 in the second quarter. At that point, he was 8-of-8 from the field, 5-of-5 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line.

The Pacers led 66-56 at halftime, and Siakam had 26 of his 29 points. He scored 3 after the break.

Cooper Flagg scored 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the third quarter. Indiana still carried a 93-90 lead into the fourth.

Flagg tied the game with a 3-pointer to open the quarter, and Kyrie Irving’s seventh 3-pointer gave Dallas the lead. The two combined for 26 points in the period, including the Mavericks’ first 13, and Dallas pushed its advantage to 116-108.

With 18 seconds left, Irving made two free throws to put the Mavericks ahead 125-122. Aaron Nesmith missed a 3-pointer at the other end, and P.J. Washington rebounded and was fouled. Washington missed both free throws.
Flagg finished with a season-high 43 points and 10 rebounds on 16-of-25 shooting.

Irving matched his season high with 35 points and went 7-of-10 from 3-point range. Dallas was playing the second night of a back-to-back.
For Indiana, Siakam finished with 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Nesmith scored 18, Ivica Zubac added 16, and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 14. Nembhard had 12 points and 12 assists.

Carlisle said the collision happened directly in front of him and the official.

“I’m not going to get into it,” Carlisle explained. “I’m probably already whatever. But it’s just that one, to me, and it happened right in front of the official and me.”

“They may have been intentionally fouling,” Carlisle continued. “It looked like that may have been a possibility. I don’t know for sure. Guys played really hard. Proud of them.”

The teams opened the season series Oct. 23 in Indianapolis, where Dallas won 121-105 in Tyrese Haliburton’s first home game since the 2025 NBA Finals.

With 59.7 seconds left in the second quarter, Nesmith challenged a Flagg dunk attempt from behind and was assessed a flagrant 1 foul after a review. Flagg landed on his left shoulder and did not return. Nesmith and Naji Marshall were each given technical fouls in the shoving that followed.

Haliburton has not played since Oct. 26. Two days later, Carlisle called him week-to-week with a mild left hamstring strain, and the Pacers still had no timeline for his return as of Nov. 7. Haliburton, Ben Sheppard, and Johnny Furphy were all listed out on Indiana’s injury report for Monday’s game.

Monday’s loss dropped Indiana to 3-8. The Pacers have lost seven of their last eight games, including Saturday’s 114-102 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Mexico City.

Dallas improved to 7-4 and won both meetings this season.

The Pacers host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.