Andrew Nembhard has officially entered his name into the running for the best on-ball defenders in the NBA. The Indiana Pacers guard was a dominant force during the 2025 NBA Playoffs, playing lockdown defense against four of the best scoring guards on the planet.
Though not quite as celebrated as teammates Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, or Myles Turner, Nembhard has proven he's an All-Defense level force.
Nembhard, 25, played an essential role for Indiana on both ends of the floor. He was the team's secondary playmaker after Haliburton, posting averages of 10.0 points, 5.0 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals during the 2024-25 regular season.
It was during the playoffs, however, that the [spotlight was placed upon him](https://8points9seconds.com/eye-opening-andrew-nembhard-trend-save-pacers-season)—and he more than delivered against elite competition.
Nembhard faced Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, and matched up against Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second. He then took on Jalen Brunson in the Eastern Conference Finals before squaring off against MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the NBA Finals.
A vast majority of players would've crumbled beneath the weight of that war of attrition, but Nembhard locked all four of his opponents down.
Andrew Nembhard locked down Brunson, Lillard, Mitchell, and SGA
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Nembhard faced a combined 150 shot attempts when defending Brunson, Gilgeous-Alexander, Lillard, and Mitchell. He not only contained the opposition, but shut them down relative to any standard, forcing them to shoot a combined 32.7 percent from the field.
Some shot worse than others, but the steady theme was that Nembhard found a way to dominate defensively against four of the best scorers in the NBA.
In the first round, an admittedly injury-plagued Lillard shot a mere 23.1 percent from the field and 14.3 percent from beyond the arc against Nembhard. In Round 2, Mitchell converted 23.3 percent of his field goal attempts and 16.7 percent of his threes when guarded by Nembhard.
The trend continued during the Conference Finals, when Brunson shot 38.2 percent from the field and 30.0 percent on threes with Nembhard as the primary defender.
Nembhard put the finishing touches on a legendary postseason by shutting down the 2024-25 MVP, Finals MVP, and scoring champion. Gilgeous-Alexander shot just 38.3 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from distance against the Pacers' breakout star—and buried 48.0 percent of his shots against all other Indiana defenders.
Four rounds, four elite opponents, four players shooting well below their and even the league average for anything resembling efficiency.
As the Pacers celebrate a sensational 2024-25 campaign and [prepare for the 2025-26 season](https://8points9seconds.com/pacers-trade-foreshadows-offseason-blockbuster-fans-expecting), voters must be ready to acknowledge Nembhard's All-Defense capabilities. He may not be a ball hawk, but he willingly takes on opposing teams' best guards and plays certifiably elite defense along the way.
Long overlooked in discussions about the best on-ball defenders in the NBA, Nembhard can be underrated no longer after an all-time postseason.