Aaron Nesmith drops a career-best 30 points - 20 in the 4th quarter - while shooting 8-for-9 from 3 at MSG in Game 1.
The game clock was already at zero when Tyrese Haliburton’s shot hit the heel of the rim and then ascended, seemingly to the clouds, and froze, suspended in the air before falling through the hoop perfectly. The game-tying shot to send it to overtime, and the highlight that will live on much longer than other memories from last night’s epic comeback.
None of it happens, though, without the historic performance of Aaron Nesmith in the game’s final minutes.
Scoring 20 points in a single quarter is a heck of an accomplishment in its own right. Doing it in the fourth quarter of a playoff game is even more impressive. Scoring 17 of those 20 points in the final 3:14 of regulation by hitting five triples and a pair of free throws to bring your team back from down 14? The use of adjectives like epic and historic may be understatements.
When it was all said and done, Nesmith finished with 30 points on 9-for-13 shooting, including making 8 of 9 triple tries, with two boards, a steal, and two blocks.
His 30 points tied a career-high and was a personal playoff best. His six fourth-quarter 3s were the most ever by any player since the 1998 playoffs (the play-by-play era), while his eight total made triples set a Pacers franchise playoff record.
It’s not only the individual achievements of Nesmith here that are remarkable, but also the results his efforts created as well.
Thanks to his outburst of long-range bullseyes, the Pacers accomplished something that has now been done just 0.001% of the time. Since 1998, teams were 0-970 when trailing by 14 or more points in the final 2:50 of regulation, they’re now 1-970. Not to mention, this is now the third time in these playoffs the Pacers have come back from a seven-point deficit in the final minute of a game. Something that had been done just one other time since ‘98.
When Nesmith wasn’t getting it done offensively, he was tasked with defending Jalen Brunson on the other end of the floor. Despite Brunson’s 43-point effort, Nesmith was glued to him early and often, in a physical battle that made Brunson fight for everything. In overtime, after already playing a tightly defended and grueling 33 regulation minutes, the Knicks guard shot just 1-for-3 and committed two turnovers, as the Pacers sealed a 138-135 Game 1 victory.
Years from now, when this game is still relived through highlights of Haliburton’s game-tying shot whenever these teams meet, and the historic comeback is referenced, remember Nesmith catching fire in the final 3:14 blazed the trail to that famed moment.
Nesmith and the Pacers will duel with the Knicks again in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday at 8 ET on TNT.
