Reggie Miller was on the sidelines, calling the game for TNT. But Aaron Nesmith possessed his aura on the court.
Nesmith reentered the game with the Knicks up 111-98 with five minutes left.
He subsequently made six 3-pointers along with two free throws — erupting for 20 points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter — as the Knicks lead evaporated in front of their eyes in their 138-135 Game 1 overtime loss to the Pacers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Nesmith did not miss in the quarter.
Aaron Nesmith of the Indiana Pacers puts up a 3-point shot over Josh Hart of the New York Knicks during the fourth quarter of Game 1 on May 21, 2025.
Jason Szenes / New York Post
He had just 10 points entering the fourth quarter.
“It’s unreal, it’s probably the best feeling in the world,” Nesmith said. “I love it, when that basket feels like an ocean, anything you toss up, it feels like it’s gonna go in. It’s just so much fun.
Pacers guards Reggie Miller (31) and Mark Jackson taunt New York film director and avid Knicks fan Spike Lee, after Miller scored eight points in the last quarter of the game against the Knicks, at New York’s Madison Square Garden, May 7, 1995. AP“Didn’t really realize what I was doing in the moment. Just trying to win a basketball game.”
It brought back Knicks nightmares of Miller scoring eight points in nine seconds in Game 1 of the 1995 conference semifinals along with other late-game scoring outbursts.
It was Tyrese Haliburton, though, who drilled the game-tying shot as time expired to send the game to overtime.
And it was Haliburton who did the choking gesture afterward, paying homage to Miller.
Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith (23) reacts at the end of overtime against the New York Knicks of Game 1 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference final. APBut Nesmith is the one who most embodied Miller on Wednesday.
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“Obviously, Aaron’s heroics, they can’t be talked about enough,” Haliburton said. “He was amazing down the stretch. … [Nesmith] works his tail off. I think each shot that he made just kept giving us more confidence that we could really win this game. He was really big for us. And I think for him to do what he did today, while also having to guard Jalen Brunson for probably 30 minutes, is very difficult to do.”
The Pacers scored a combined 23 points in the final 3:14 of the fourth quarter — the most in that amount of time in playoff history in the play-by-play era.
The Knicks led by 14 points with 2:51 left — teams in that situation were 994-0 in the postseason in the play-by-play era before Wednesday.
Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith puts up a 3-point shot over New York Knicks guard Josh Hart. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostThe vast majority of it was on the back of Nesmith.
Given how hot he was, did Nesmith want to take the shot with a chance to tie, or win, the game that Haliburton got?
“A little bit,” Nesmith said. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t.”
He didn’t need to, however. He did more than enough.
