- Game 5: Bucks at Pacers, 6 p.m., Tuesday; TV: NBA TV, FanDuel
MILWAUKEE — Aaron Nesmith was motivated partly by chagrin.
The Pacers forward was beyond the 3-point arc at the top of the key when teammate Tyrese Haliburton took and missed a 3-pointer at the right elbow. Nesmith saw Bucks forward Bobby Portis contest the shot and keep running down the floor, but instead of getting back on defense, Nesmith kept his eyes on the ball as Pacers forward Obi Toppin got his hands on an offensive rebound but missed a tip in. At that point, Portis was most of the way down the floor, and when Bucks guard A.J. Green got his hands on the ball and Nesmith still hadn’t dropped back beyond half court, he knew he was in trouble.
“It actually was a breakdown in our defense,” Nesmith said. “He shouldn’t have been able to get behind us. I saw him out of the corner of my eye take off and I just knew I had to go make a play.”
The play he made gave perhaps the most convincing evidence yet of what Nesmith’s teammates already knew to be true. The Pacers are a team built on selflessness and players who are willing to sacrifice for the greater good. But no one on the squad is willing to risk his physical well-being more than Nesmith.
The 25-year-old turned and broke immediately into a full sprint and caught up to Portis quick. He was in the paint by the time Portis caught the ball, but Portis was right at the rim and still had the edge. Nesmith took one more step and launched himself into the air from the edge of the restricted area, got his right hand well enough above the rim and swatted it away as he was turning. The turn cost him a lot of his body control at that point, however. He made contact with Portis under the basket, made a 360-degree spin, felt his feet slide out from underneath him immediately as they hit the floor and landed flat on his back.
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But as he labored to push himself up and hobble down the floor, Nesmith saw his effort was worth it. Haliburton collected the ball off the block and took it the distance for a scoop shot through contact that turned into a three-point play. Instead of allowing the Bucks to get back within 11 points just before the end of the third quarter, Nesmith’s block helped the Pacers go up 16. They ended up with a 17-point lead at the end of the period and eventually broke Milwaukee’s will in the fourth, claiming a 129-103 win that gives Indiana a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series and gives them a chance to clinch and advance in Game 5 on Tuesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Nesmith scored 14 points in his 25 minutes, the Pacers were +26.
“He sacrificed himself, man,” said Pacers center Myles Turner, the franchise’s all-time blocks leader. “Landing on your back like that is not fun, but it sparked a big play for us. That’s just not new for him. It’s very on par for what Aaron Nesmith brings to our team. Just a hard-nosed guy. I think he does an amazing job of just selling out. He’ll go out there and just put his body, his life on the line for the team.”
Turner wasn’t the only Pacers player to suggest there is truly no limit to how far Nesmith would go to make a play that had to be made. It was perhaps an awkward time to engage in such a discussion considering Bucks point guard Damian Lillard suffered a left leg injury feared to be an Achilles tendon tear that would end his season, something the Pacers all sent thoughts and prayers Lillard’s way for. Still, it was a sincerely held assessment.
“That’s who Double-A is,” Haliburton said. “What he brings doesn’t always show up on the scoresheet. Some people say, like, they’re willing to die for this. Double-A is willing to die for this. He gives it his all every night and I think every team in the NBA wants a guy like Aaron Nesmith. Every team who wins big and ultimately wins it all always has a guy like Aaron Nesmith.”
Nesmith bowed his head with humility when presented with his teammates’ words, but he didn’t say they were taking it too far.
“It’s pretty accurate,” Nesmith said. “This game is my life. I work so hard just to be able to do what I can do on a daily basis. I really would. I would go out there and give my life for this game. I want to win a championship. I think everybody in this room wants to win a championship. You have to sacrifice a lot to be able to do that.”
Nesmith has been to the NBA Finals before but barely got to experience it. The former Vanderbilt star was taken No. 14 overall in the 2020 draft by the Celtics, but that meant he was stuck behind All-NBA wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and his playing time was limited in his first two seasons. In his second year, the Celtics reached the 2022 NBA Finals before losing to the Warriors and Nesmith played a grand total of 52 minutes in 15 playoff appearances. He played in five NBA Finals games but played 2:02 or less in four of those games.
Since the Pacers acquired him in July of 2022 he’s been more than willing to take on any dirty work job to get on the floor. At 6-6, 215 pounds, Nesmith is built as a natural small forward or even a big shooting guard, but the Pacers didn’t have a natural power forward and he eventually won the starting job at the 4 in 2022-23 because he proved to be the player most willing to stand in the way of freight train forwards such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James. He didn’t always win those battles and he rarely shut them down, but he kept signing up for more and more physical punishment.
The acquisition of Pascal Siakam in January of 2024 has allowed him to move full-time to his natural position as the Pacers’ small forward, but he’s still one of the Pacers’ top perimeter defenders along with guard Andrew Nembhard so he has a tough assignment every night. And whenever he’s on the floor and SIakam isn’t, he often still does switch his matchup to guard a power forward. That has meant in this series he’s had to try to defend Antetokounmpo again even though he’s giving up 5 inches and 27 pounds on paper and probably more in reality. The two-time MVP has been dominant in this series just as he’s been whenever the Pacers have played him, but any amount of resistance the Pacers can have on him is helpful and Nesmith has been more than willing to try.
And when Nesmith has guarded players his size in this series, he’s been excellent. He’s been the primary defender on Bucks small forward Kyle Kuzma to start the game each night. Kuzma averages 17.0 points per game for his career, but in this series he’s averaging 6.0 points per game on 33.3% shooting. Nesmith spent some stretches on Lillard and helped keep him from developing a rhythm and he’s bounced around onto other players who have come off the Bucks’ bench.
Outside of Antetokounmpo, who is averaging 33.8 points and 14.3 rebounds per game, the Pacers have mostly held the Bucks in check. There have been breakouts from Portis in Game 2 and Gary Trent Jr. with his 37 points on nine 3-pointers in Game 3, but the Bucks have just three other scorers averaging in double figures.
Offensively, meanwhile, Nesmith’s game continues to grow. He’s been an excellent floor spacer and catch-and-shoot threat since the Pacers acquired him — which makes him a seamless fit in the Pacers’ offense — and he’s become more aggressive in looking for his own shot and driving the ball. He scored 14 points Sunday on 5-of-8 shooting including 2-of-5 from 3-point range. He’s scored in double figures in each of the past three games and is averaging 13.8 points per game on 54.1% shooting including 52.4% from 3-point range.
This comes after his most efficient offensive regular season yet. Though he missed 35 games from Nov. 1 to Jan. 16 with a severely sprained ankle, he finished with 12.0 points per game with career highs in field goal percentage (.507), 3-point field goal percentage (.431) and effective field goal percentage (.617). He also had by far his best free throw shooting season, knocking down 91.3% of his attempts at the line. He was particularly effective after the All-Star break, averaging 15.0 points per game on 52.2% shooting including 45.3% from beyond the arc and 92.2% from the line.
“It’s just experience,” Nesmith said. “Being in these positions before playing in these big moments. Just being more comfortable. … My teammates are putting me in a good spot to be great. Taking what the defense gives me, not forcing, not overstepping, just playing good quality basketball.”
Because he’s been playing such good quality basketball, the Pacers need him on the floor so they were a little nervous when he stayed down on the floor for a bit after the block. He admitted after the game he was in pain, but nothing he wasn’t more than willing to play through.
“It’s a little stiff,” Nesmith said. “I’ll rub some dirt on it and be alright.”
