This year's NBA Finals are off to an amazing start as Tyrese Haliburton's game-winning jumper concluded an epic Game 1 between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Part of what made the game great was a relative lack of fouls called. The two teams combined for 45 free throws over the course of four quarters and the action flowed well for the most part as a result.
It represented another tightening of the whistle from referees, consistent with earlier playoff trends that saw the officials allowing more physicality than the regular season. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle weighed in on that aspect of the game at-large during his Game 2 media availability on Saturday and had a blunt perspective on keeping free throw attempts down.
"The game's gotten more physical in the last year and a half as changes were made to interpretations (of the rule book)," Carlisle told repoters. "I'm a believer that that's the right way to go. Nobody wants to come to an NBA game and watch a free throw shooting contest and have the game last for three hours."
"Nobody wants to come to an NBA game and watch a free throw shooting contest." 🗣️
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 7, 2025
Coach Carlisle on the challenge of playing good defense without fouling. pic.twitter.com/bVCpTAjEXR
It's a good point and a quote that may resurface depending on how the referees call Shai Gilgeous-Alexander throughout the series. SGA caught a lot of criticism from fans for his high free-throw shooting numbers in the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The league MVP averaged 10.2 free throw attempts per game en route to a gentlemen's sweep for the Thunder. He shot eight free throws in Game 1, in line with his season average of 8.8 per game, but the Pacers will be hard-pressed to keep him off the line this series.
Carlisle certainly speaks for a big chunk of the fanbase with his view.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rick Carlisle Shares Blunt Perspective on Number of Fouls Called in NBA Games.
