'It hurts, but it's no excuse': Aaron Nesmith's sprained ankle cuts his minutes in half
NEW YORK -- Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith acknowledged that Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals was a little harder on his sprained right ankle than Game 4, which in part explains why he played just 16 minutes after playing 32 in Game 4 and suffering the injury in Game 3.
However, Nesmith would not say that was why he made just 1 of 8 field goal attempts and scored just three points in the Pacers' 111-94 loss to the Knicks.
"It's stiff," Nesmith said. "It hurts, but it's no excuse. Gotta be better. I was able to play Game 4. I could play today. There was no excuse."
Nesmith got tripped up by Knicks center Mitchell Robinson when trying to guard Jalen Brunson with 8:32 to play in the first quarter and Pacers coach Rick Carlisle took him out of the game right after. He checked back in with 7:54 to go in the second quarter but checked back out with 2:56 left in the half. However, Nesmith said the play with Robinson didn't affect him.
"It wasn't a play today that made it worse," Nesmith said. "It's not an excuse. I just need to play better."
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle mentioned Nesmith's ankle as a reason his minutes weren't very high.
"We were just looking for people to go in there and battle," Carlisle said. "He got off to a bit of a slow start. I wasn't sure if maybe he was slowed a little bit by the ankle. I put (Ben) Sheppard in there right away and then (Bennedict) Mathurin got a game going. That dug into Aaron's minutes some. But every one's just gonna have to be ready for Game 6."
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