DETROIT -- Rick Carlisle decided with the Pacers trailing by 18 points with 2:11 to go in Monday night's game against the Pistons, that he wanted to get his starters off the floor for good and empty his bench. He didn't have a timeout remaining to make it happen, but he called one anyway knowing full well the Pacers would be assessed a technical foul for doing so. It didn't change the trajectory of the game, obviously, and the Pacers lost 127-112 .

It wasn't the first time he's done it. In fact, it speaks to the state of the Pacers' season that he's making it a habit.

Monday's was the third straight game in which the Pacers were assessed a technical foul in the fourth quarter for an "excessive timeout." It hasn't particularly bothered Carlisle because a team that calls an excessive t

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