Forty-eight hours after limping around the Pacers locker room following a right ankle sprain he suffered in the third quarter of Game 3, Aaron Nesmith showed no signs of being injured in Game 4. The 25-year-old, who was a game-time decision, drilled his first two 3-point attempts and threw down a fast-break tomahawk dunk in the first quarter that garnered a roar from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd.
However, the play that perhaps best summarizes Nesmith’s unrelenting two-way effort was a less heralded one in the third quarter. After Nesmith shed Jalen Brunson for an easy dunk, he quickly flipped the switch to defense and bumped Brunson as he got up in his grill. The Knicks hadn’t even inbounded the ball yet, and Brunson threw his hands up in frustration. Nesmith finished with 16 points, three rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes while hounding Brunson. The Pacers guard also drew a crucial charge on Knicks forward OG Anunoby at the 2:30 mark of the fourth quarter that preserved a seven-point Indiana lead.
Bennedict Mathurin gave Indiana a spark, too. The 2022 No. 6 pick had struggled in this series, scoring 11 points combined through the first three games, but he came alive Tuesday to help Indiana push New York to the brink of elimination. Mathurin, who was sidelined last year during the playoffs due to a torn labrum, nailed a midrange jumper just four seconds after he entered the game in the first quarter and totaled 20 points off the bench in 12 minutes.