"He's bought by the sportsbooks"- NBA fans flame Rick Carlisle as Pacers waive white flag with 10 minutes left in Game 2 loss 

NBA fans lambasted Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle after his side gave in to the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals with a good quarter left. The Celtics trailed 27-25 after one quarter but held a 57-51 halftime lead. They ended the game with a dominant, 126-110 win.

As for the fans, they noticed that Carlisle had pulled off his starters and had put in his reserve players once he realized the game was out of their reach. Barring the first quarter, Indiana trailed the rest of the matchup.

One fan minced no words when he called out Carlisle:

"Rick Carlisle quit with 10 mins left in an EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS game…."

This saw another fan reply to the comment:

"he’s bought by the sportsbooks"

More responses soon followed on X/Twitter:

@the1stmimezee wrote:

"He quit at the end of the third. Had McDermott in. It’s incredible."

@EstacaoLakers added:

"I've never seen something like that in my lifetime."

The ones betting were affected as well as @sadisticpenguin said:

"Real tired of Carlisle blowing up my parlays by odd coaching decisions."

@ajcarrier91 wanted Rick Carlisle fired:

"As a pacers fan, i want nothing more than him fired. His rotations and rotations timing have absolutely killed this team multiple times this year!"

@NCSteveo said:

"Launch an investigation immediately."

The Pacers were dealt with a major injury blow to Tyrese Haliburton as a sore hamstring forced him to exit the game. He ended his evening with just 10 points, four rebounds and eight assists in 28 minutes.

Jaylen Brown was in the wrecker-in-chief again as the Celtics forward poured 40 points along with five rebounds and two assists. Jayson Tatum and Derrick White had 23 points each.

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Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle offers update on Tyrese Haliburton's injury

Speaking to the media in the aftermath of the loss, Rick Carlisle provided an update on Tyrese Haliburton's injury:

"Losing Ty for the game is a big blow. We'll know more [on Friday] and even more on Saturday. ... I know you want details. I don't have much."

While the Pacers sweat over Haliburton's injury, the series will now move to Indiana and the franchise will be confident of mounting a comeback as they boast of a 6-0 record at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in the playoffs this season.

However, Boston is 4-0 on the road so far this postseason. Only time will tell if Carlisle can help the Pacers get back to winning ways.

Game 3 is set to take place on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.