Yuck

Just yuck.

Things are unravelling. If you're looking to place blame for the Pacers' loss last night, you're spoiled for choice.

Coaching? Go ahead, Carlisle was terrible. The Pacers' trap allowed the Knicks to have an express lane to the hoop all night. At crunch time, he took out the only players who were playing well. Then he capped it all off by getting ejected when the game was out of reach. It was an embarrassing night for the HOF coach.

Execution? Blame away. The players were soft. Nesmith, Siakam, and Turner were ice cold. The team didn't play a lick of defense. Tyrese hates contact like a cat hates water. We missed free throws like we were trying to win the fans a free chicken sandwich.

I'm obviously skipping over a lot of good things. The man above for example (no not God, TJ McConnell... but I see how you could confuse the two). Obi and Sheppard came to play. Even Tyrese's shooting deserves flowers.

But at the end of the day, the Knicks punched the Pacers in the mouth and the Pacers went crying home to mommy.

You blame the referees, you say? Join the club.

At the end of the day, the blame game is masturbatory. The simple truth is if the Pacers don't get serious, they'll be on a beach by Monday. They need to play the rest of the series like they are fighting for their lives – on every possession. No more resting on laurels. No more coddling. It's time for ruthlessness.

The series isn't over. The Pacers are on the ropes, to be sure, but a haymaker in Game 3 opens up some breathing room. Do they have any fight left? We'll see tomorrow.