Andrew Nembhard was having a rough conference finals. Over the prior three games before Game 6 sent the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years, he averaged just six points and two assists while making just six of his 26 shot attempts while dealing with OG Anunoby’s elite defense after the Knicks changed their starting lineup along with their matchups heading into Game 3.
For a true playoff riser that the Pacers have relied on like Nembhard, these were easily his worst playoff games over these last two years and he wasn’t his typical impactful self with his on-ball defense at the point of attack against Jalen Brunson as he provided little resistance against the Knicks star guard in his opportunities to cover him in each of the last two playoff series up until last night.
“I just had a strong belief that he was going to have a big game today,” Rick Carlisle said of Nembhard after the Pacers defeated the Knicks 125-108 to win the Eastern Conference. “… Drew really took the challenge.”
Carlisle, as he has been with nearly every adjustment or rotation decision throughout these playoffs, was correct. Andrew Nembhard was at his best. Playoff Drew was back. After an early foul on Aaron Nesmith, who was clearly still dealing with stiffness in that sprained ankle, the Pacers decided to switch the Brunson matchup to Nembhard and he responded to the challenge with five steals in the first half, playing with physicality and grittiness, being the ultimate full-court pest, and wearing on the New York offensive machine all game.
“Aaron got in foul trouble early, so I knew I had to step up,” Nembhard told IndyStar. “I had a big task. I tried to be a pest and pick him up full court, irritate him and just do my best job to make it tough on him. He was dominating the series and there’s not much you can do with a guy like that but I tried to make it tough on him.”
Mission accomplished. He did more than just make his life difficult. He really caused him to struggle. This was by far his best game defending Brunson in either two playoff series. The numbers are incredible.
In Games 1-5, Andrew Nembhard defended Jalen Brunson for 49 match-ups, allowing 51.0 player points per 100 match-ups
In Game 6, Nembhard defended Brunson for 55 match-ups, giving up just 9.1 player points per 100 match-ups
He was sensational. pic.twitter.com/VQNoJSo22x
— Caitlin Cooper (@C2_Cooper) June 1, 2025
“We have dawgs. We have guys that can guard,” Siakam, the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, said after the game. “I mean Drew, he was incredible tonight just seeing how hard he worked, pressuring an All-NBA, All Star all night in his face and that’s not even the first time he’s done that. This guy does that every other night, it’s crazy.”
Always needed to add Nembhard to this list
After his sixth steal came in the fourth quarter as he stole away Brunson’s dribble at halfcourt and scored a layup to put the Pacers up 14, Nembhard had broken the guard, got fully into his head in a way that mirrored Reggie Miller and John Starks. Nembhard screamed with excitement after his big play in Brunson’s direction as he took the ball out and Brunson headbutted Nembhard directly in his face as he jogged up the court.
No referee saw the play to Nembhard’s shock, unlike the Starks play in the 1990s when he did the same thing to Miller, but it spoke volumes about the mental fatigue that had set in on the Knicks as the Pacers lead was ballooning as they kept running and running and running on makes, misses, or turnovers from New York. They weren’t just tired physically. By the end of the game, Brunson had just 19 points on 18 shot attempts with 7 assists and 5 turnovers. I lost count of the amount of times he caused Brunson to lose control of his dribble on plays that didn’t result in turnovers but spoke to how much trouble Brunson was having dealing with the increased pressure and physicality. Perhaps most importantly, he only got to the free-throw line for two attempts.
Andrew Nembhard took on the Jalen Brunson assignment having one of his best defensive performances ever.
Nembhard collected six steals while hounding Brunson for 94 feet all game.
Defensive masterclass from Nembhard when Indiana needed it most in Game 6.pic.twitter.com/YZpx8Q3f4m
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 1, 2025
With the headbutt, you have to enjoy a good callback. It was the second time we’ve seen a reference to those 1990s classic rivalry series when the Knicks actually won some of these playoff battles. The first, of course, being Tyrese Haliburton doing Reggie’s choke sign at the end of regulation in the game one miracle. Now, the Pacers have won the last four series between the teams and six of the last seven overall. They’ve ended the season of each of the best four Knicks teams over the past 25 years. During that stretch, the Knicks have advanced past the first round five times, they’ve only lost to a team other than the Indiana Pacers once. Whether it’s Reggie Miller in the Garden, Roy Hibbert blocking Carmelo Anthony, Andrew Nembhard hitting a deep 3 for a game winner, Tyrese Haliburton orchestrating a record-breaking offensive masterclass that set records in a Game 7 in the Garden, or everything that happened in this series. The Pacers have destroyed the dreams of Knicks fans every time they start to have a little hope over the last quarter century.
Back to Nembhard, he finished with 14 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 6 steals, and a block. Once again, he proved how valuable he is and how critical he is to this team’s success. The Pacers were 10-15 to start the season and one of many reasons why was that they were missing the point of attack defense and secondary playmaking of Andrew Nembhard. The perfect backcourt pairing to Haliburton, able to take on the toughest assignments on one end and provide another ball handler to alleviate the pressure on the offense when Haliburton is being face-guarded at half-court like overrated players are prone to do. It’s no coincidence that his return was one of the many things that started to come together to the point of them having the second-best record in the NBA since January 1st.
“A guy like Drew, you can’t replace that type of effort,” Myles Turner said of Nembhard.
“I think he deserved to be an all-NBA defensive team this year,” Aaron Nesmith told IndyStar. “It was crappy he got left off. That’s what he does, man. He’s a dawg. He fights and he guards, and he brought it tonight.”
Nembhard was ineligible to make an All-Defense team thanks to the 65-game rule. Although Nembhard played in enough games, he didn’t reach the 20-minute requirement in enough of them thanks to his early season knee troubles that had him playing limited minutes for a stretch.
Offensively in game six, him matching up and hanging in against Brunson ended up helping him break loose on the other end too.
“The other thing is getting him on Brunson created a natural cross match to keep OG off of him,” Carlisle said. “OG is like the silent killer on their team. He’s very hard to score on … defensively, he’s a beast.”
While the offense didn’t quite come back immediately in the first half as he went just 2 for 7 and missed some wide open looks, he went 4 for 5 in the second half including a dagger 3-pointer that put the Pacers up 19 points with 4:20 left in the game. When they needed him most, he stepped up once again. Ever the riser in these big moments. The biggest one is yet to come with the NBA Finals starting on Thursday. They wouldn’t be there without him.
“You can always count on Drew to hit a big-time shot,” Nesmith said. “I always tell him every game there’s going to be one game there’s going to be a breakdown or low shot clock and the ball is going to end up in his hands. I’ve got full faith that it’s going in.”
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