Aaron Nesmith Reportedly Had 'Noticeable Limp' from Ankle Injury After Pacers' Loss

On top of blowing a 20-point lead in their Game 3 loss to the New York Knicks, the health of Aaron Nesmith could be a huge story for the Indiana Pacers after he suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter.

Per ESPN's Tim Bontemps, Nesmith was walking around the Pacers' locker room with a "noticeable limp" after the game.

The injury occurred midway through the third quarter when Nesmith rolled his right ankle upon landing on a drive to the basket. He was walking gingerly on the court and went to the locker room to get checked out.

Indiana officially listed Nesmith as questionable to return with a sprained right ankle. Nesmith was able to return midway through the fourth quarter and played the final seven minutes. He was held scoreless during that stretch on just two field-goal attempts, though he did have a block on Jalen Brunson with 41 seconds remaining that kept the score 100-98 in favor of New York.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters after the game that Nesmith was "was moving without limitation" at the point he checked back in, but they won't know more about his status going forward until Monday (h/t Bontemps).

If Nesmith is unable to play or is limited in Game 4, that is a huge potential swing in favor of the Knicks in this series. His presence on both ends of the court has been significant for the Pacers.

Indiana was leading 70-57 at the time Nesmith checked out in the third quarter. The Knicks outscored the Pacers 32-18 in the 13 minutes he was out to lead by one.

Nesmith is averaging 16.7 points on 53.6 percent shooting and 5.3 rebounds through the first three games of the Eastern Conference Finals.

There's not a lot of recovery time for players between games at this point in the postseason. The Knicks and Pacers will play Game 4 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.