Why Rick Carlisle is on the hot seat despite the Indiana Pacers' recent success

It still may not be enough to secure his spot as the Pacers' head coach, however

Typically, the Eastern Conference has not been as competitive or dominant as their counterpart, the Western Conference. Yes, Boston and Milwaukee have won in recent years, but the West has more teams playing at a higher level.

Furthermore, the Celtics are supporting pretty much the same roster as they look to run it back with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and company. After all, this is the squad that ended the Pacers' recent hopes of winning their first NBA title.

The Knicks and the 76ers each had solid offseasons and both the Cavaliers and the Magic were playoff teams that finished with a higher seed than the Pacers a season ago. The window for Indiana is open but it may not be for long.

Sure, this Pacers team is young and has components of a championship team. They have an All-Star point guard, a pair of big men in Siakam and Turner. They are deep with a nice blend of youth and veteran leadership.

One of their biggest problems is that the team gives up too many points per game. Their up-tempo offense gives the ball back to whoever they are playing more often than they would like. However, Carlisle was known for his teams displaying strong defenses (Pistons and Mavericks).

When Carlisle won the NBA Coach of the Year in his first year as a head coach, Detroit had an average offense but possessed the sixth-lowest average in terms of points per game. In the year that Carlisle led the Mavericks to their lone NBA title, Dallas was not only the eighth-ranked offense, but they were also the eighth-ranked defense, too.

"Our mind set, if it's shifted to simply trying to outscore teams, and away from any kind of emphasis defensively, that's got to stop."

- Rick Carlisle, Indiana Pacers Head Coach

Last year, the Pacers gave up the third-most points in the Eastern Conference and fourth-most in the entire NBA. The season before that, they gave up more points than anyone else except for the San Antonio Spurs. In Carlisle's first season back as the Pacers' coach, they also gave up the most points in the Eastern Conference.

The Pacers have been bad defensively with Carlisle during his second stint as their coach. It affected their team's ability to win close games. Indiana dropped 11 games by five points or less with half of those coming against non-playoff teams (Portland, twice).

If Carlisle is the answer, he needs to find a solution to the Pacers' woes when it comes to making more stops and shutting down the opposing team's scoring. Otherwise, the Pacers might be firing their winningest regular season coach, again.