What. Did. We. Just. Witness?
The Indiana Pacers just dropped the basketball equivalent of a cheat code in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and the man holding the controller was none other than Aaron Nesmith. Not Tyrese Haliburton, not Pascal Siakam, not even Myles Turner. It was Nesmith, a dude who had Knicks fans yelling at their TVs like Stephen A. Smith on a Monday morning. Let’s set the scene.
The Knicks were up by 17 in the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden. Jalen Brunson had dropped 43 points like it was just another Friday night, and Knicks fans were already planning the parade. But then… oh man, then came Aaron Nesmith’s Villain Origin Story.
Nesmith transformed into prime Ray Allen with a sprinkle of 2016 Klay Thompson. The man went absolutely bonkers in the fourth quarter! We’re talking six three-pointers in the final five minutes. Not one, not two — SIX. It was like every shot he took came with its own mic drop.
Not only did he shoot 8-of-9 from deep for the game, he poured in 30 points total, and most of them came when it mattered most. That’s not clutch, that’s icy veins mixed with Red Bull and playoff adrenaline. Just for some historical spice: no player in NBA playoff history has hit six threes in the fourth quarter of a game. Aaron just said, “Bet,” and etched his name right in the postseason record books.
WHAT A NIGHT FOR AARON NESMITH
30 PTS (20 in 4Q)
8 3PM (6 in 4Q)
2 BLK
At his best when the lights were brightest pic.twitter.com/cbX3q8Ned2
— NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2025
Let’s talk about this stat: NBA teams were 0-994 when trailing by 14 or more with under 3 minutes to go in the playoffs. You read that right. Zero wins. Nine hundred and ninety-four losses. Until Nesmith said, “Hold my Gatorade.” While Nesmith was out there doing his best Steph Curry cosplay, Tyrese Haliburton iced the comeback with a rainbow three-pointer that scraped MSG’s ceiling before sinking into the net like it was drawn by a Disney animator. That bucket sent the game to OT, and from there, it was the Andrew Nembhard show — dude dropped seven points in OT alone.
The Pacers eventually won it, 138-135. Yup, in New York, right on the Knicks’ own parquet. And just like that, a game that was practically gift-wrapped for New York turned into a basketball horror movie for their fans.
Nesmith sends Knicks Fans: From “Knicks in 4” to broken monitors
The meltdown was instantaneous. Viral videos of Knicks fans tossing chairs, throwing jerseys, and, in one case, smashing a monitor with a keyboard hit social media faster than a Haliburton outlet pass. A guy named JasonTheWeen went full WWE, destroying his friend’s setup like the Pacers had just dunked on his soul. Shoutout to @scubaryan_ for capturing the moment, which now lives rent-free in Knicks Twitter history.
To pour even more salt into the wound, Pacers fans were celebrating at bars with fans doing the “choke” sign — yep, Tyrese-style — right back at the camera. Safe to say, the “Knicks in 4” crowd is now suspiciously quiet. No tweets. No memes. Just vibes. Painful ones.
Other Pacers showed up too. Haliburton dropped 31 and 11 dimes, Turner had 14, Siakam added 17, and Nembhard? The clutch gene is fully activated with 15, and that OT takeover. On the Knicks’ side, Brunson’s 43 should’ve been enough. KAT gave them 35 and 12 with four threes. But outside of those two, the rest of the squad got out-dueled and out-hustled when it mattered most.
Let’s not get carried away — it’s still only Game 1. But this wasn’t just a win; this was a message. The Pacers didn’t just steal home court, they crash-landed through the ceiling, grabbed it, and left with the receipts. Game 2’s back at the Garden on Friday, and the Knicks better come out like their jobs depend on it — because if Aaron Nesmith’s heating up again, New York might be one step closer to another painful chapter in their playoff history.
For now, the only question left is this: Did the Pacers just turn Aaron Nesmith into a playoff legend… or is this just the beginning of his 2024 run to Reggie Miller status? Either way, Knicks fans might want to unplug their electronics before Friday. Just in case.
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