Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard doesn’t Raise the Larry Bird trophy SATURDAY. (It was the MVP of the finals of the Eastern Conference Pascal Siakam). Nembhard did not deposit 31 points in the clincher (also Siakam) or struck the 30 -foot bomb that transformed Gainsbridge Fieldhouse into a crazy house About a minute before the final buzzer. (It was Tyrese Haliburton.) When Indiana fans come back to this final take place in years, however, they will remember what Nembhard did in match 6 against the New York Knicks.
They will remember the flights of Nembhard. The man had six, five of whom immediately led to buckets on the other side. Flights are extremely precious for any team – you get a stop, and you get a better chance than the average to score at the other end! – But, for these pacers, they are gold. Or, perhaps, more precisely: for the teams who try to beat these pacers, they are death. At all times, Indiana’s objective is to transform defense into an attack as quickly as possible and to pass its opponents into tatters.
They will remember Nembhard Hounding Jalen Brunson. Nembhard put pressure on BrunSon in its own right, bypassed the screens and fought for every centimeter when the star of the Knicks, a master in the creation of the space, went to the head. At times of the conference final – and in the second round of last year between the same two teams – it seemed that Brunson was simply comfortable Face Nembhard. This time, Brunson has become so frustrated that He is kicked Nembhard. Brunson finished with 19 points, his lowest total in the series, on the shooting of 8 for 18, with five reversals.
The Pacers coach Rick Carlisle did not know how long Nembhard was going to spend Brunson. Aaron NesmithWho played with an ankle injury, had the mission at the start of the match, but Carlisle made the change at around 90 seconds, after Nesmith took his first fault. It was “a naturally easy decision,” Carlisle told journalists after the 125-108 victory, and Nembhard “really took up the challenge”.
“Drew, he was incredible tonight, guy,” said Siakam. “Seeing just how hard he worked by putting pressure on an all-nba, All-Star, like, all night, just in his face. And it is not even the first time that he does. This guy does it as every two evenings. I mean, it’s crazy.”
Throughout the season, Nembhard was the best defensive player in Indiana. He is the rare goalkeeper who can be just as disturbing defensively of the ball and at the point of attack. He is sufficiently disciplined to avoid having big troubles, but he is physical, intelligent and sometimes sneaky. No one else in the Nba regularly “Pulls the chair” on his man in non -post situations.
Nembhard also attaches the play together offensively. When the opponents give the Pacers a taste of their own medication by putting pressure, in blitz and refusing Haliburton, Nembhard can relieve the burden of game creation. It is an ideal adjustment in the chaotic offensive system of the Pacers because it quickly makes intelligent decisions, is constantly in motion and is a threat without the ball in his hands. He had only two 20 points games during the regular season, but, in the last year conference final against the Boston CelticsExploded for 56 points combined on the shot of 22 for 39 in the two games that Haliburton was out of alignment. Upon entering match 6 against the Knicks, he had only scored 18 points on a shot 6 for 26 in the three previous games, but his trainer was not worried.
“I just thought he was going to have a big game,” said Carlisle.
Nembhard scored 14 points on a shot of 6 for 12 and committed eight assists on Saturday to go with a block, the six aforementioned interceptions and a single turnover in 37 minutes. In the second quarter, while it seemed that New York could take the lead, Nembhard made a mid -range rider on Brunson and, on the following possession, created the flight which set up the Dunk of Haliburton who sent the crowd to delirium. In the third quarter, when the Knicks had reduced a deficit of 16 points to a figure, Nembhard made a corner 3 in transition. In the fourth, after New York started the Fort district, Nembhard made a stepback 2 against Brunson, then chose Brunson’s pocket during the next game and pushed the pacers’ advance with one with a lay-up not disputed a few seconds later.
Deep 3 of Haliburton may have been a more euphoric moment, but the Knicks had already drawn their beginners by then. Catch-And-Shoot of Nembhard 3 a few minutes earlier, which put Indiana in front of 19 points and forced New York to call a last time, was the real dagger. Despite the cold in the middle of this series, Nembhard made 48.3% of his attempts at 3 points in 33 career playoffs. It was only a shooter of 33.5% to 3 points in the regular season, but I would be surprised if the Oklahoma City Thunder Treat it this way in the final. When Denver Nuggets David Adelman coach said Wednesday This “there is a bonus on the production of shots when you need it” and that regular seasonal percentages are not “real” during this time of year, I thought of Nembhard.
None of the Nembhard buckets looked at a distance 3 years he made in match 3 of the KNICKS series last year. His versatile performance on Saturday, however, is more representative of what he means for the Pacers and more illustrative of the type of team that are the Pacers.
“It’s not the most flashy and sexiest team,” Indiana Center Myles Turner told journalists. “We get results.”
It is, more than all crazy strengths or statistical lines, this is what the Pacers have shown the world en route to the finals. And when it was the most important, Nembhard gave the team exactly what he needed.
“You cannot replace this type of effort,” said Turner.