NBA fans will remember Tyrese Haliburton’s game-tying shot for years, but that would never have happened if it weren’t for Aaron Nesmith.
The 25-year-old scored 30 points on 8-of-9 from three, with 20 points and six threes coming in the final 4:45 of the game. It was magical, or terrifying, depending on your fandom.
Nesmith will look to carry over that performance into Game 2 tonight. The Pacers are six-point underdogs and the game total is set at 224.5 points on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Here are my favorite Nesmith prop bets for Game 2.
Best Aaron Nesmith Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Aaron Nesmith over 12.5 points (-120)
Nesmith’s Game 1 was one of the best playoff performances in recent memory. A 12-points-per-game scorer in 2024-25 could not miss a shot down the stretch to help the Pacers overcome a 14-point deficit with under three minutes to play.
Surely, he can’t do it again in Game 2. Right? Right, but his points prop is still too low. The chances at another historic performance are slim, but he’s still capable of scoring over 12.5 points.
The Pacers and Knicks succeed while playing at a high pace, so it’s fair to believe that there will be another high-scoring game tonight. More possessions equals more opportunities for Nesmith to score. Indiana isn’t a team that runs heavy iso play through their stars. Instead, it shares the ball and allows all of its rotation players to get touches.
While that could work against Nesmith, the bar is low here. He’s scored at least 13 points in eight of the 11 playoff games this year. It’s not a hard mark to hit — he needs to score less than half of what he did in Game 1 to clear the over.