Even LeBron James had no idea why the Pacers didn't foul Jaylen Brown late while up 3 points
If you want to flummox one of the best basketball players of all time, don’t foul a shooter late in the game while your team is up by three points.
That was the case for the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night in the first game of the 2024 Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.
On the most consequential bucket of the NBA playoffs so far, Celtics guard/forward Jaylen Brown hit a colossal 3-pointer over Pacers forward Pascal Siakam to send the game to overtime. However, Siakam chose not to foul Brown on the shot attempt. Most likely, he would’ve disrupted the attempt with a foul and sent Brown to the free throw line.
Whether it was a coaching decision for Indiana or just an in-moment reaction from Siakam not to foul, it cost the Pacers a chance to neutralize Brown’s shot that sent the game to extra minutes and helped Boston get the 133-128 overtime victory.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was beside himself as to why the Pacers didn’t foul Brown late while up three points.
He and J.J. Redick even had a discussion about this on a recent Mind the Game podcast episode, which James reshared on Twitter (X) after the Pacers fiasco.
The Pacers are going to have to stack wins in this series to offset what could be a costly non-foul on the Celtics. Brown’s 3-pointer could change the entire demeanor of this series, one James certainly would’ve handled differently if he were on the court.