INDIANAPOLIS — Aaron Nesmith resumed playing after suffering a sprained ankle Sunday night, but the Pacers could be without their Game 1 fourth-quarter marksman as the Knicks attempt to even the series.
Nesmith was “sore” the morning after, according to Indiana coach Rick Carlisle, and listed as questionable for Game 4 on Tuesday night.
“He’s sore, predictably today, and he will likely be a game-time decision,” Carlisle said at the team practice facility across the street from Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith (23) is assisted off the court during the second half of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks Sunday, May 25, 2025, APNesmith, who nailed six 3-pointers and scored 20 points in the fourth quarter of the Pacers’ frantic comeback win in Game 1 in New York, left Sunday’s game and hobbled to the locker room after his right ankle landed on Jalen Brunson’s foot with 6:06 remaining in the third quarter.
Nesmith initially was announced as questionable to return to the game by the Pacers, but he came back to the bench late in the quarter and checked back in with seven minutes to go in the fourth.
“It certainly is a factor,” Carlisle said after the game. “He went back to the training room, got it looked at, I believe he got it re-taped. He was doing things in the hallway to get moving again, and then I got the word that he was good to go back in, that he was moving without limitation at that point in time.
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“So rather than wait, [we] decided the best thing to do was to get him back in there so he didn’t stiffen up anymore. Then down the stretch he seemed to move OK to me, just from the eye test standing there.”
The 25-year-old Nesmith, who is averaging 15.1 points per game and shooting 53.5 percent from long distance in the playoffs, missed 35 games with an ankle sprain this season bridging November and January.
Aaron Nesmith #23 of the Indiana Pacers drives to the basket against Mitchell Robinson #23 of the New York Knicks during the second quarter in Game 3. Getty Images“Look, we’re not gonna make excuses,” Carlisle said. “I mean, we’ve come back from big leads, we lost the lead [Sunday]. Regardless of who’s out there, we gotta be able to attack better and do the things to maintain it and finish the game.”
