The Indiana Pacers lost Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Indiana Pacers gave up a 20-point lead after a 106-100 game 3 loss against the New York Knicks.
Karl-Anthony Towns was on the verge of taking the lead in Jalen Brunson’s foul trouble, finishing with 24 points (20 in the fourth quarter) and 14 rebounds, putting them out to lead New York.
Tyreese Halliburton scored 20 points and seven assists, losing Indiana’s efforts.
It is possible that a pacer will enter Game 4 without one of the key players.
Aaron Nesmith fell on the obvious sprain of his right ankle. He left the court and tweaked his feet with an offensive drive against Branson before heading into the locker room around 6:06 in the third quarter.
He was able to return to the bench by the end of the third quarter, but reentered the game with about seven minutes left in regulation, finishing the night with eight points, seven rebounds and two steels.
“He went back to the training room and saw it, and I believe he retagged it,” Rick Carlisle said in a post-game match about Nesmith’s injuries.
“He was doing things in the hallway to move again. Then I said that I’m glad he came back, that he wasn’t restricted at that point. So, rather than waiting, we decided that he was going to bring him back there, so he didn’t harden anymore.
“Down the stretch and he looked ok to me from the eye test standing there, but I haven’t studied the film yet. Obviously, we’ll know more tomorrow.”
Nesmith was Indiana’s X-factor in the 2025 NBA playoffs. Before entering Game 3 against the Knicks, the versatile forward averaged 15.7 points per game with 54.1% field goal shooting, while draining 54.4% from the 3-point range.
He was the driving force behind the team’s historic Game 1 comeback victory, a victory against the Knicks, exploded with 30 points, draining a total of six threes in the fourth period without any mistakes, helping Pacer force overtime.
The Pacers were leading 70-57 in Game 3 before the exit of Nesmith’s injury. After that, the Knicks struggled to unleash the fierce game revival behind the town’s heroics.
“I mean, look. You lose such a guy, that affects your ability to close a quarter,” Carlisle said when asked if Nesmith’s temporary leave had a major impact on Pacer. “Maybe there is a factor there.
“But looking, we’re not going to make excuses. We’ve come back from a big lead. Today we lost the lead. No matter who’s there, we have to be able to attack it better, keep it up and do what it takes to finish the game.
“We didn’t. We simply didn’t do as much as we needed to.”
The Pacers are crossing their fingers that Nesmith is in good condition and ready despite ankle issues in Game 4 on May 27th.