INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Pacers are moving on from Monday night’s controversial ending to the Game 1 loss against the Knicks. 

The late foul calls against Indiana have dominated the national conversation, but head coach Rick Carlisle isn’t using officiating as an excuse. 

The Pacers need to fix what went wrong and that starts on the glass.

“Our pursuit of the ball has to be better,” Carlisle said after practice Tuesday. “Loose balls in the second half and their offensive rebounds, our defensive rebounds – we’ve got to secure those. We did a pretty good job in the first half of the game, but New York is a team that if you look at their history this year, as the game goes on they get more tenacious as the game goes on. So we got to understand that and we got to match that.”

Carlisle didn’t think all of Game 1 was bad. There were a lot of positive takeaways, like the first-half defense and 46 points from the second unit led by TJ McConnell’s 18. Still, major changes are needed to take Game 2 in the Garden. 

“The adjustments from Game 1 to Game 2 often seem daunting, but we proved that we can do it in Milwaukee and we’re going to have to do it again tomorrow,” he said. 

The mood at Tuesday’s practice was focused but not concerned. The Pacers know that Monday’s game was just the first of a seven-game series where anything can happen. 

“It’s the first to four wins,” Obi Toppin said. “Obviously we’re in the Garden. They win Game 1. We come back and we adjust and hopefully, we can get Game 2,” Carlisle said.

Tyrese Halliburton’s performance – or lack thereof – was another defining factor of the Pacers’ four-point loss. Haliburton had only six points on six shot attempts – a postseason low in both categories. Haliburton took all the responsibility for his poor production Tuesday. 

“(I need to) Be more aggressive,” Haliburton said. “Be myself. I just felt like even in Game 1 of the last series, I wasn’t being myself, just lack of aggressive, my energy, just everything was off yesterday. I’ll be better in Game 2.”

Haliburton’s not blaming his back spasms on his performance on the court. He said it is what it is – everyone’s playing with some sort of injury this time of year. He assured the media he’ll be fine for Wednesday’s Game 2. 

Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Madison Square Garden. 

WISH-TV is the only local Indianapolis station in New York City covering the Pacers’ pursuit of the Eastern Conference Finals.