Indiana Pacers fans have to be wondering what forward Aaron Nesmith has in mind for an encore when the Eastern Conference Finals resume Friday in New York.
The former Vanderbilt star put on a record-breaking show in Wednesday’s 138-135 overtime win in Game 1 against the Knicks, becoming the first player in NBA history to make six three-point field goals in the fourth quarter of a playoff contest.
Six other players had made six threes in a single quarter: Boston’s Antoine Walker (2002), Portland’s Damian Lillard (2021), Phoenix’s Devin Booker (2021), Denver’s Michael Porter, Jr. (2021), Utah’s Bojan Bogdanovic (2021) and Golden State’s Steph Curry (2022).
But none had achieved the feat in the fourth quarter.
“It’s unreal — it’s probably the best feeling in the world,” Nesmith told reporters afterward. “I didn’t really realize what I was doing in the moment.”
Overall, Nesmith connected on eight-of-nine three pointers, totaling 30 points, two rebounds, two blocks and one steal in the contest.
Teammate Tyrese Haliburton captured most of the headlines for hitting the shot that sent the contest into overtime — and mimicking former Indiana star Reggie Miller’s famous choke sign at the Knicks afterward — but it was Nesmith who set the stage for Haliburton’s game-tying basket at the regulation buzzer.
The Charleston, S.C., native made four three-pointers in the game’s final 2:04, as Indiana — which trailed 119-105 with 2:51 left — rallied to force overtime.
“I think each shot he made just kept giving us more confidence that we could really win this game,” Haliburton said. “He was really big for us. To do what he did while guarding [Knicks guard] Jalen Brunson for probably 30 minutes is difficult to do. What Aaron Nesmith did can’t be talked about enough.”
The StatMuse statistical website noted that Nesmith, 25, now has a higher career playoff-best in three pointers than a host of notable sharpshooters, such as Miller, James Harden, Dirk Nowitzki, Larry Bird, Kevin Durant, JJ Redick and Steve Nash.
Nesmith has connected on 35-of-65 three-point shots in Indiana’s 11 playoff contests this year, a 53.8 percent rate that tops all NBA players who’ve played at least five games. Oddly enough, Nesmith’s eight-of-nine showing against the Knicks came one game after he’d gone one-for-seven from behind the arc in Indiana’s clinching victory over Cleveland.
The 6-6, 213-pound Nesmith gave plenty of indication he could be a deadly three-point shooter during his two years (2018-19 and 2019-20) at Vanderbilt. In his second season, Nesmith connected on 60-of-115 three-pointers, a 52.2 percent rate. He turned pro after averaging 23 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals as a sophomore.
Nesmith is in his third year with the Pacers after spending his first two seasons in Boston, where he reached the NBA Finals in 2021-22. Nesmith averaged over 12 points per game in each of the last two regular seasons for Indiana, and made 42.3 percent of his three-point attempts during those two years.