Clutch Coaching: Inside The Pacers' Playoff Resilience
When the lights are brightest, your players either rise to the challenge or fold under the pressure.
You want your team to stay composed, play connected, and believe in each other no matter the score. But how do you coach that kind of confidence?
There are no lights brighter than the NBA playoffs. Rick Carlisle and the Indiana Pacers’ incredible 2025 playoff run have been a master class in overcoming long odds.
Carlisle is guiding his team through a historic stretch. They have five comeback wins after trailing by 15+ points, the most in a single postseason. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Pacers were down 15 in the fourth. They never panicked. No one scored more than 19 points, but every starter made winning plays. Tyrese Haliburton hit a game-winner with 0.3 seconds left. That kind of clutch performance? It wasn’t luck. It was a culture.
Carlisle hasn't conjured up magic; he's built trust, empowered his players, and made sure his team believed in itself even after 19 first-half turnovers.
That’s your challenge, too. To lead your players with calm clarity. To build systems that allow for contribution, not just star power. To instill a mindset where being down never means being out.
You’ve got what it takes to build a competitive advantage for your team. Allowing them to thrive in the face of adversity and finish games strong without fear.
And if Carlisle’s Pacers prove anything, it’s that playing well in pressure-filled moments is not a fluke. It’s built every day in how you coach.
3 Strategies to Instill Confidence
1. Reflect Confidence to Your Players
Coaches are a significant source of confidence for athletes.
Coach Carlisle embodies this by consistently showing trust in his players. For instance, at the end of game 1, Coach Carlisle trusted Haliburton to get a great shot and did not take a timeout. This prevented the Thunder from setting up their formidable defence.
Haliburton credits Carlisle's confidence in him as a key factor in his clutch performance this postseason.
This is a technique you can borrow from Coach Carlisle.
Letting them know you believe in them goes a long way to helping them feel good about their ability.
Also, pay attention to how you are communicating. Your players feed off your energy in these situations.
2. Remind Them of Past Performances.
In high-pressure situations, confidence grows for athletes who can draw on their past successes.
At this point, the Pacers have plenty of recent examples to draw on. Coach Carlisle did exactly this in a timeout during the first half of game 1, providing them a key technical reminder while at the same time, highlighting that they had been there before and to stay patient.
Help your players draw on past experience by highlighting what they did right in previous situations.
If your team has won a game after being down big then they can do it again. If they haven't had that moment as a team, share one from previous years.
3. See the Deficit as a Challenge, not a Threat.
After so many great comebacks, there is no way the Pacers see a 10-point deficit as a threat. They are definitely framing them as challenges.
But that is not how most of your athletes will view it.
Often, athletes see close games as a threat, a threat to their identity as athletes, their team, or even future opportunities.
None of that leads to great performance in the clutch. You need to help athletes reframe anything hard as a challenge or an opportunity.
For example: "Let's see if we can cut the lead to six before the 1-minute mark."
We rise to meet a challenge, and shrink from a threat.
Keep your athletes focused on the controllables, the actions required to meet the challenge.
Focusing on the negative in hard situations only increases the threat level for athletes. So don't make a hard situation seem even more dire.
3 Techniques to Enhance Clutch Performance
1. Set a clear goal with a narrow focus.
Clutch performers are able to narrow their focus and block out all other distractions except the task at hand.
You can aid this by setting clear goals that help athletes know exactly what needs to be done. "We need three stops in a row" or "make sure we secure the defensive rebound to finish the possession".
The Pacers have mastered this. In the last few minutes of games, they are laser-focused. Whether it is Aaron Nesmith hitting six threes in the last 5 minutes or Haliburton winning games at the buzzer. They are focused on the task at hand, not the size of the moment or the scoreboard.
Help your athletes focus on what they need to accomplish, not what they need to prevent. The human brain struggles with the word "don't". For example, "We want to run the shooter off the line and make him a driver" is more effective than "don't let Klay shoot a three".
It tells the athlete exactly what they need to do. Not a result they need to avoid.
2. Short Bursts of Incredible Energy
To be their best in the clutch, athletes often need to push past the physical barriers that they believe exist.
The Pacers are either in much better shape than all of their opponents or have understood that they have a little more to give when it matters most.
Encourage your athletes to push past what they believe is their limit. It helps athletes if they know how long they will have to work at a high energy rate.
I find it helpful to let my players know when I am planning to take a timeout so they know when their next rest is coming.
3. The perception that athletes have some control.
All athletes need to understand that Clutch performance is a choice.
They need to know that they are the only ones responsible for choosing how they will perform in the clutch. They control whether they will empty the tank and increase effort; they control whether they implement the tactical adjustments their coach has provided.
This allows them to exercise their free will, a powerful force.
There is no doubt that the Pacers have realized they have control over the end of games. Their effort, talents and actions are paying off in wins.
Athletes who feel that their free will is recognized and protected by a coach are way more likely to choose to do what it takes to win. They are also more likely to play freely, without fearing the consequences of not executing in the clutch.
You can help your athletes get to this point by building this trust, asking for input and highlighting when this has worked out in the past.
Regardless of how the series finishes, I think OKC wins in six, the Pacers' run has been memorable. There is a powerful takeaway for all coaches.
With the proper training and coaching, you can build a competitive advantage for your team by helping them
Webinar: The Inner Game of Coaching: Leading From the Inside Out.
Here is the video of the webinar I hosted last week. It explored how you can boost your performance by having a clearer sense of who you are and why you coach.
How can I help you on your coaching journey?
Let's work together.
I help coaches thrive.
I would love to help you or your team build a competitive advantage. Here are a few ways I can help:
- Consult with your team or coaching staff
- Teach mental skills to your team via Zoom
- Work 1 on 1 with coaches
- Work 1 on 1 with athletes
Shoot me an email at jasonpayne@evolutionmpc.com, I love to talk coaching and see how I can help you.
Coaching is hard, let's make it easier.
Check out my website at http://jasonpayne.ca
Thanks for reading and have a great week.