In the minutes following the tough defeat the Indiana Pacers suffered at the Boston Celtics' home court (133-128) in the first game of the Eastern Conference finals, coach Rick Carlisle and star player Tyrese Haliburton both took the "blame" for the loss for different reasons.

"This loss is my fault. I should have called a timeout," Carlisle said in the post-game press conference at the TD Garden, referring to a turnover on an inbound pass with ten seconds left in the fourth quarter when the Pacers were up 117-114.

That turnover was punished by a three-pointer from Jaylen Brown that forced overtime, where Jayson Tatum scored ten of his 36 points to secure the win for the Celtics. Haliburton, who had three turnovers during the game, disagreed with his coach but appreciated his attempt to protect the team.

"It's not his (Carlisle's) fault. It's the players' fault; we need to do a better job. I had two turnovers that cost us the game. I understand he wants to protect us, but I take the blame. We'll be better," Haliburton said in his press conference.

"We played very well for 47 minutes today. We'll watch the footage and come back much better," concluded the Pacers' coach.