Pacers are finally waking up to a Rick Carlisle truth Mavericks have always known

With the Dallas Mavericks watching the playoffs from home after their season ended in the Play-In Tournament against the Memphis Grizzlies last month, several key people from Mavericks history are still in the hunt to achieve NBA Finals glory.

Former Mavericks fan-favorite guard Jalen Brunson led the New York Knicks to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2000. Brunson has become the face of the Knicks over the last few years, but the even more impressive performance has been on the other side of the floor as former Mavericks head coach and current Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has led Indiana to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row.

After last night's 114-109 win over Brunson and the Knicks, Carlisle and the Pacers hold a 2-0 lead heading back to Indiana to play Games 3 and 4. The Pacers couldn't be in a better spot right now, as they have won 10 of the 12 playoff games they've played in, and Indiana and its fan base are finally realizing something about Carlisle that Mavericks fans have known for years.

Rick Carlisle is reminding the world he is a top coach in the NBA

That being that he is one of the best coaches in the NBA, and once he gets to the playoffs, he gives his team a shot at winning the title, regardless of his roster. Carlisle's most iconic run in the playoffs as a coach was in 2011 when he led Dirk Nowitzki and company to beat LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, and this enshrined him in Mavs history forever.

The entire city of Dallas loves Carlisle since he helped bring the Mavericks their only NBA Championship in franchise history. Carlisle's relationship with Nowitzki, combined with his elite in-game adjustments and stability, made him someone Mavericks fans will never forget, and he gave them something no other head coach did. Carlisle's 13 years with the Mavericks make him the longest-tenured head coach in team history by a long shot, and he is showing the entire world how great of a coach he is on the biggest stage.

Carlisle has handily outcoached Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau through the first two games of the series, as he is doing whatever he can to expose any mismatch the Knicks present his team with. He has led a Pacers roster that is undermanned compared to some of the other Eastern Conference contenders all the way to the Conference Finals, and Indiana's relentlessness and gamesmanship rest on Carlisle's shoulders.

He is outstanding at finding the other team's weakness, even in the middle of a game, and there are no politics in his coaching. If a key player is having a bad game or a bad series, Carlisle isn't afraid to try someone else, as exemplified by Bennedict Mathurin only playing 11 minutes in last night's Game 2 win over New York.

Carlisle is all about winning, and that is singlehandedly the most important quality of a coach.

He does his best to put his team in the best possible position to win big games, regardless of how he gets there, and while Jason Kidd has done an excellent job in Dallas over the last four years, Mavericks fans definitely miss Carlisle's intensity and in-game chess moves that leave opposing coaches in the dust.

The Indiana Pacers have something special with Rick Carlisle, and they are just two wins away from their second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history.