Pacers Forward Details Injury Recovery vs. Knicks

The New York Knicks are facing a banged-up Indiana Pacers squad in the Eastern Conference Finals, but there is also a sense of resilience with them.

Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith suffered an ankle injury in Game 3 that affected the outcome of the matchup. The Pacers did all they could to get him ready for Game 4, and Nesmith described what the process looked like to get him ready for the most important game of his career.

“Right after the game, treatment started,” Nesmith said via NBA insider David Aldridge of The Athletic.

“Red light therapy, Game Readys, (electronic) stim machines, hyperbaric chamber, anything you can think of, I was doing it pretty much from the buzzer of the last game to tipoff. And we’ll continue to do that and be ready again for Game 5 (Thursday). It was a long 24, 36 hours. I couldn’t wait for tipoff. That’s all I was waiting for.”

Nesmith earned the respect of his teammates, including Pascal Siakam, for playing while hurt.

“At this point, everyone’s got something going on,” Siakam said via Aldridge.

“It doesn’t really matter at that point. Everybody just wants to win. You just go out there, put your body on the line for your teammates. Shout out to Double A, just coming in, playing the way he did. He was questionable or whatever. But he’s a warrior, for sure.”

The Knicks will have to deal with an injury of their own going into Game 5. Karl-Anthony Towns is questionable for the game with a knee contusion, and he is working overtime just like Nesmith did for Game 4 to get ready in time for tipoff.

The Knicks' chances of winning are increased with Towns on the floor, so the team is doing everything in its power to have him healthy.