Game On: Sports News, Highlights & Commentary
Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard did not hoist the Larry Bird trophy on Saturday. (That was Eastern Conference finals MVP Pascal Siakam). Nembhard didn’t put up 31 points in the clincher (also Siakam) or hit the 30-plus-foot bomb that turned Gainsbridge Fieldhouse into a madhouse about a minute before the final buzzer. (That was Tyrese Haliburton.) When Indiana fans look back on this Finals run years from now, though, they will remember what Nembhard did in Game 6 against the New York Knicks.
They’ll remember Nembhard’s steals. The man had six of them, five of which led immediately to buckets on the other end. Steals are extremely valuable for any team — you get a stop, plus you get a better-than-average chance at scoring on the other end! — but, for these Pacers, they are gold. Or, perhaps, more accurately: For teams trying to beat these Pacers, they are death. At all times, Indiana’s goal is to turn defense into offense as fast as possible and run their opponents ragged.
They’ll remember Nembhard hounding Jalen Brunson. Nembhard pressured Brunson full-court, got around screens and fought for every inch when the Knicks star, a master at creating space, went at him one-on-one. At certain moments during the conference finals — and during last year’s second-round series between the same two teams — it looked like Brunson was simply too comfortable when going up against Nembhard. This time, Brunson got so frustrated that he headbutted Nembhard. Brunson finished with 19 points, his lowest point total of the series, on 8-for-18 shooting, with five turnovers.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle didn’t know how much time Nembhard was going to spend guarding Brunson. Aaron Nesmith, who was playing through an ankle injury, had the assignment at the beginning of the game, but Carlisle made the switch about 90 seconds in, after Nesmith picked up his first foul. It was “a naturally easy decision,” Carlisle told reporters after the 125-108 victory, and Nembhard “really took the challenge.”
“Drew, he was incredible tonight, man,” Siakam said. “Just seeing how hard he worked pressuring an All-NBA, All-Star, like, all night, just in his face. And that’s not even the first time he’s done that. This guy does that like every other night. I mean, it’s crazy.”
Throughout the season, Nembhard has been Indiana’s best defensive player. He’s the rare guard who can be equally disruptive defensively off the ball and at the point of attack. He’s disciplined enough to avoid getting in foul trouble, but he’s physical, smart and, at times, sneaky. No one else in the NBA regularly “pulls the chair” on his man in non-post-up situations.
Nembhard also ties the room together offensively. When opponents give the Pacers a taste of their own medicine by pressuring, blitzing and denying Haliburton, Nembhard can relieve the playmaking burden. He’s an ideal fit in the Pacers’ chaotic offensive system because he makes smart decisions quickly, is constantly in motion and is a threat without the ball in his hands. He only had two 20-point games during the regular season, but, in last year’s conference finals against the Boston Celtics, exploded for a combined 56 points on 22-for-39 shooting in the two games that Haliburton was out of the lineup. Entering Game 6 against the Knicks, he’d scored just 18 points on 6-for-26 shooting in the previous three games, but his coach wasn’t worried.
“I just had a strong belief that he was going to have a big game,” Carlisle said.
Nembhard scored 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting and dished eight assists on Saturday to go with a block, the aforementioned six steals and only one turnover in 37 minutes. In the second quarter, when it seemed like New York might take the lead, Nembhard made a midrange jumper over Brunson and, on the next possession, came up with the steal that set up the Haliburton dunk that sent the crowd into delirium. In the third quarter, when the Knicks had cut a 16-point deficit to single digits, Nembhard made a corner 3 in transition. In the fourth, after New York had started the quarter strong, Nembhard made a stepback 2 over Brunson, then picked Brunson’s pocket on the next play and pushed the Pacers’ lead back to 14 with a with an uncontested layup seconds later.
Haliburton’s deep 3 may have been a more euphoric moment, but the Knicks had already pulled their starters by then. Nembhard’s catch-and-shoot 3 a few minutes earlier, which put Indiana ahead by 19 points and forced New York to call one last timeout, was the real dagger. Despite going cold in the middle of this series, Nembhard has made 48.3% of his 3-point attempts in 33 career playoff games. He has been just a 33.5% 3-point shooter in the regular season, but I’d be surprised if the Oklahoma City Thunder treat him that way in the Finals. When Denver Nuggets coach David Adelman said on Wednesday that “there’s a premium on shot-making at the times you need it” and that regular-season percentages aren’t “real” this time of year, I thought of Nembhard.
None of Nembhard’s buckets remotely resembled the game-winning 3 he made in Game 3 of the Knicks series last year. His all-around performance on Saturday, however, is more representative of what he means to the Pacers and more illustrative of the type of team the Pacers are.
“It’s not the flashiest, sexiest team,” Indiana center Myles Turner told reporters. “We get results.”
This, more than any crazy highlights or stat lines, is what the Pacers have shown the world en route to the Finals. And when it was most important, Nembhard gave the team exactly what it needed.
“You can’t replace that type of effort,” Turner said.
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