INDIANAPOLIS — Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith woke up with a sore right ankle Monday after suffering a sprain in the third quarter of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday, coach Rick Carlisle said in Monday’s press availability. Carlisle said Nesmith will likely be a game-time decision to play in Tuesday’s Game 4. He was listed as questionable on the injury report released late Monday afternoon.
Nesmith injured the ankle driving baseline to make a pass with just over 6 minutes to go in the third quarter. He had to be helped off the floor but was treated in the locker room and returned to the game with 7:03 to go and played the rest of the game. Carlisle suggested after the game, however, that the ankle might feel worse the next day.
Nesmith finished with eight points on 2-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds in the Pacers’ 106-100 loss to the Knicks in Game 3, but he has been one of the team’s most important players in these playoffs. He’s averaging 15.1 points per game on 52.3% shooting including 53.5% from beyond the 3-point arc.
In the Pacers’ thrilling comeback win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals he scored 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting including 8 of 9 from 3-point range. He hit a record six 3-pointers in the Pacers’ fourth-quarter comeback with all of those coming in the last six minutes of regulation. Nesmith is also averaging 1.3 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.9 blocks per game and has taken on one of the top defensive perimeter assignments in each series. He has been guarding Knicks All-NBA guard Jalen Brunson in this series, and Brunson was just 3 of 11 from the floor when Nesmith exited the game.
Nesmith missed 35 games with an ankle sprain this season, but he averaged 12.0 points per game this season including 15.0 per game after the All-Star break.
