4 hours ago
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Reggie Miller was on the sidelines, calling the game for TNT. But Aaron Nesmith possessed his aura on the court.
Nesmith reentered the game with the Knicks up by 13 with five minutes left. He subsequently made six 3-pointers along with two free throws — erupting for 20 points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter — as the Knicks lead evaporated in front of their eyes in their 138-135 Game 1 overtime loss to the Pacers Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Nesmith did not miss in the quarter.
He only had 10 points entering the fourth quarter.
It brought back Knicks nightmares of Miller scoring eight points in nine seconds in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals.
It was Tyrese Haliburton, though, who drilled the game-tying 2-pointer as time expired to send the game to overtime.
The Knicks collapse was aided by brutal free-throw shooting — Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby both went just 1-for-2 at the line when the Pacers fouled them on back-to-back possessions with under 15 seconds remaining.
The Pacers scored a combined 23 points in the final 3:14 of the fourth quarter — the most in that amount of time in playoff history in the play-by-play era.
Then they finished the job in overtime, despite Nesmith missing the only shot he took.
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