He who broke the Reggi Miller record was actually not as valuable as a pack of potato chips?

Pacers defeated the Knicks in overtime and won the first victory in the division championship game.

Many people focused on Halliburton's two-pointer that forced the game into overtime. He dribbled in and suddenly stepped back, then pulled up and jumped up. The ball bounced on the basket and finally landed steadily. Halliburton thought that the three-pointer was a three-pointer, and immediately made the signature gesture of Pacers star Regimeller facing the Knicks, as if he was about to end the game. Until he found out that he could only enter overtime, but the Pacers eventually took away the victory, so that the gesture would not become a joke on the field.

But if I were to say who is the person who looks most like Reggie Miller in this game, I would vote for Nesmith.

If he hadn't made three consecutive three-pointers at the end of the fourth quarter, helping the team reverse the 14-point difference in just 3 minutes and 14 seconds, the direction of this game might have been destined.

"I didn't think too much about it at the moment, I just wanted to win the game."

"But this is really unreal, this may be the best feeling in the world."

"It feels like the basket is like the sea, and you will make it no matter how you shoot."

After the game, Nesmith described entering the state of "ZONE". He scored 30 points in this game, 20 of which were concentrated in the fourth quarter, scoring six consecutive three-pointers, one goal higher than the other, driving the team to rush to catch up with points in a crazy way. This ability to score points in adversity reminds me of the Pacers who once scored 8 points in 9 seconds and turned the situation around.

And it also makes people think that if it weren't for the deal that year, Nesmith might not have ushered in this night of his own.

Once upon a time, his value was not as good as a bag of potato chips

"Honestly, what exactly did Boston lose in this deal?"

"Boston exchanged a bag of potato chips to Brogdon." In 2022, the Celtics used their 2023 first-round draft picks, plus Thece, Nesmith and several other players to exchange Brogdon from the Pacers. The deal was widely praised at the time, and many Celtics fans believed that the team had almost paid a price and got the low-key defender who had won the best rookie. The following year, Brogden also successfully won the best sixth man in Boston, which seems to further prove the cleverness of this operation.

But on the other hand, it is understandable how low the value of Nesmith, who was in their hearts at the time, was in their hearts.

However, this is definitely not what everyone expected of Nesmith at the beginning. As the 14th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Nesmith has a 6-foot-5-inch figure. With a precise projection and desperate defense attitude as the selling point, he was once considered to be a weakened version of Thompson or Danny Green, who can play a shooter who can open up space in tactics.

But in the first two years of the Celtics, Nesmith had almost no reuse.

The team was crowded in the backcourt in the first year, with Kemba Walker and Smart starting. He lacked the destructive power of cutting and destructiveness and could only serve as a substitute shooter in the team's tactics. However, in the competition at the same position, his ball holding and creative ability are inferior to Prichard, who can shoot and control. Coupled with the awkward height of 6 feet 5 inches, it also makes it difficult for him to move towards the development of a small forward.

The result is that intermittent playing time and more games spent in the Development League, even if the wounded players made a show at the end of the season, they are still not stable enough overall.

2022, also Naismith's second year, the head coach did want to give him more playing time in March and April when the season ended, but he did not seize the opportunity and only scored 22.2% three-point shooting percentage in March.

In the end, although the team successfully entered the finals to fight against the Golden State Warriors, Nesmith could only sit at the end of the bench and watch his teammates compete for the championship. He knew that his shooting and defense had not yet gained trust, and the team's tactics did not reserve a role for him.

As a lottery pick, he cannot find a position in the rotation, and many fans have long regarded him as a failed draft.

So it is not difficult to understand how excited the fans were when they were able to exchange him for Brogden, who had immediate combat power.

But no one expected that this player, who might not be as valuable as a bag of potato chips, could shine in Indiana.

In the right place, glittering

"He is a constantly improving player."

"As he plays more, his vision becomes wider." After coming to the Pacers, Nesmith's costly defensive attitude quickly attracted Carlisle's attention. At that time, the team had just established a team building policy with Halliburton as the core, and urgently needed a wing who could defend the opponent's main force at the front line and had the ability to shoot outside, so that Halliburton could have a stable outside exit after cutting in.

On the one hand, because the lineup lacks a sufficiently sized forward line, Nesmith was forced to appear in the third position more time; on the other hand, the offensive and defensive system created by Carlisle for Halliburton and Turner made Nesmith not at an absolute disadvantage in terms of position even if he was slightly short of height, with the support of the rotation and defense system.

After having stable playing time and reasonable tactical positioning, Nesmith's expected scorer value before the election was finally released. The Pacers saw his potential and decided to sign a three-year $33 million contract with him before the 2023 season kicked off.

This trust became the turning point for him to come to the Pacers' second year. His average score increased to 12.2 points, with a three-point shooting percentage of 41.9%, which is the highest standard in the shooter's level. What is even more surprising is that he began to show a certain ability to hold the ball, no longer just a pure catch shot.

This year, the team eliminated the Knicks in the playoffs and entered the division finals. In that round of the series, Nesmith was assigned as the main defender, and performed well against Brunson, successfully interfering with the opponent's rhythm..

But the high-intensity defensive tasks gradually consumed his energy. It made him unable to maintain his regular shooting stability, and his three-point shooting percentage in the playoffs dropped to 27.8%. In the Eastern Conference final against his old club, the Celtics, facing the opponent's tight outside defense, his three-pointers fell to only 18.8%, and the team was swept 0-4. After

was eliminated, Nesmith didn't say much, but just chose to practice more silently.

But as if fate was against him, he only played six games in the beginning of the season and fell down due to injury and did not return to the court until mid-January.

However, this return has started his extraordinary season.

From paper clip to pillar

"His offense level has been taken to a whole new level."

"In the past, we would feel nervous when he started dribbling."

"But now, we encourage him to do that."

This is teammate Turner's comment on Nesmith's return this season.

Indeed, although Smith only played 45 games due to injury this season, his shooting measurements are 50.7%, 3-point shooting percentage 43.1%, and 91.3% of free throw shooting percentage, which is close to the standard of "180 Club". If he hadn't played in a small number of games, he would be fully qualified to be included in the discussion of the top scorer of the year.

But what really made his value emerge in the playoffs.

After having experience in the last playoffs, Nesmith seemed more calm and decisive at critical moments this season. In the first round of the series against the Bucks, the outside world focused on Halliburton's final victory in overtime, but if Nesmith did not chase a three-pointer in the top three-pointer in the stage, narrowing the score to the three-point difference, and then grab Halliburton's rebound without a layup and a tip-in, narrowing the gap to one point, the end of that game would probably be completely different. Nesmith's performance was even more amazing than the regular season during the entire series. He averaged 14.8 points per game and shot up to 51.9% from three-pointers, making him a shooter who will make his opponent's scalp tingle. He no longer just relies on fixed-point shooting, and began to show off weapons such as throwing and taking a mid-range shot. He gradually transformed from a pure shooter to a scorer who can end the offense by running without the ball.

"This is the accumulation of experience."

"The moments I have experienced, those playing at critical moments have made me more calm."

"I just grasp the gap, don't force or force, and play reasonable basketball."

Faced with outstanding performance, Nesmith spoke in a humble tone during the interview. But this humility cannot conceal his important contribution to the walkers.

After eliminating the opponent 4-1 in two consecutive rounds, the Pacers once again stood on the stage of the division finals. This time the opponent is the Knicks, who had defeated in the playoffs last year.

Although he had won in the past, the Knicks were plagued by wounded soldiers at the time. This year, they not only recovered from injury, but also made up for Bridges and Towns through transactions, and their overall combat power is no longer different from the past. Many predictions therefore tend toward the Knicks, looking at the chances of the Pacers. The script of the first battle once developed according to this expectation. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Knicks made a wave of offensives, widening the gap to double digits. With three minutes left in the game, they took the lead with 14 points. In the past 27 years of playoff history, the team has never reversed 970 games with more than 14 points behind with 2 minutes and 50 seconds left.

But Nesmith appeared. He seemed destined to silence Madison Garden Plaza, and also reminded old fans of the memories of being dominated by Reggie Miller.

When he bypassed Topin's cover and received a pass from Halliburton, Knicks' defender Hart was already close behind him. But Nesmith moved forward one step, causing Hart to react too much and lose his center of gravity. He seized this short gap, took decisive action, and made his sixth three-pointer in a single quarter, not only breaking the team's playoff record maintained by Miller, but also chasing the score to 121-123, with 22 seconds left.

The hot hands made the Knicks start to be timid. In the next wave of attack, he was sent to the free throw line, and scored both free throws, scoring his 29th and 30th points in the game.

's final development, as mentioned earlier, the Pacers won the first series win in overtime, and the team's first victory in the division finals since the 2013-14 season.

Their performance made Artest, the Pacers senior who watched the game on the sidelines, and Reggie Miller, who was the broadcaster, unable to hide his excitement. But for this young team, this is by no means the end. What they want to accomplish is the unfinished dream of their predecessors, and this victory is just the first step they have just taken.

There are seven wins left to dream.

And the player who was undervalued and used as a bargaining chip also quietly posted a meme on his limited-time dynamics, the one that compared him to a paper clip.

Now he has long transformed from a paper clip to an indispensable pillar of this team.