In the first 6 shots, he didn't score anything, shooting 0 of 6. Seventh shot, last conversion layup, scored, 1-of-7 shooting. In the last 16.4 seconds, the two sides played 106-106, Haliburton was trapped, and the ball was distributed to him in the last 5 seconds, at this time he took a big step outside the three-point line, in front of Brunson, no way, a little dribble, he may be stealed, the latter violated the rules in 24 seconds, and could only force a shot, as a result, everyone guessed, the whistle hit! It was this goal that directly helped the Pacers lock up the victory, and in the G3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Pacers got through the danger, and this quasi-lore hero was the little-known second-round show Nembhard.
Many people want to ask, where did this little defender come from, I wasn't familiar with it before! Indeed, Indiana itself is a small-ball city, and the Pacers have little attention, Nembhard, as a second-round pick, is in the second year of his career, and he plays decently, and he is not well-known, so there will naturally not be many people who pay attention. But in fact, Nembhard is a real big heart player, before today's three-point shot to beat the Knicks, he had beaten the Lakers in his rookie season, and the three-point shot that beat the Lakers in that game was very similar to the position he shot today, both of which were at a 45-degree angle on the left side, and they were all "catching" the ball to defuse the bomb. It is worth mentioning that Nembhard is also the bitter master of the Warriors, and he once slashed 31 points, 8 rebounds and 13 assists to lead the team to defeat the Warriors.
Nembhard, in fact, to be honest, it is really not easy to play a starting point guard in a playoff team, he is only 193cm tall, slightly taller than Brunson, but his weight is not as good as Brunson, and he is completely crushed by Brunson in the confrontation. A 193cm player to play a point guard is a bit short, unless you have Wade's body, or Curry's projection, or Iverson's dribbling, Irving's skill. But obviously, Nembhard didn't have anything, but he had a big heart, and that's pretty scary. This season, he averaged 9.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, shooting 49.8% from the field and 35.7% from three-point range.
But Nembhard is a key part of the Pacers' long-term plan. He was the 31st pick in the second round in 2022 and was offered a four-year, $8.6 million rookie contract by the Pacers after joining the Pacers. Friends who are familiar with the NBA know that there are not many people who give 4-year contracts as soon as the second-round show comes up, many of them only give three, two, or even one-year contracts, and Zhou Qi got a two-year contract at the beginning, but the second year is not guaranteed at all. Nembhard's contract is fully guaranteed for the first three years, with an amount of 6.4 million yuan, and the data shows that among the rookies in the class of 2022, after the No. 18 show Terry in the first round, except for Nembhard. None of the other people's insurance contracts exceeded 6.4 million, and Nembhard was the only one.
Three-point quasi-lore! Where did this second-round pick little guard come from? He once beat the Lakers! So, Nembhard, if he plays well, his future with the Pacers is bright. Nesmith, who entered the league two years earlier than him, has already received a 3-year 33 million contract extension from the Pacers, although this Nesmith is a first-round lottery pick, he played with the Celtics for the first two years of his career, and his average points per game did not exceed 5 points, but Carlisle deserves to be a representative of turning stones into gold, after joining the Pacers, Nesmith was successfully activated and successfully got a big contract with an annual salary of 10 million. So, Nembhard could emulate Nesmith and work hard under Carlisle, and with his big heart attributes, he has every hope of staying with the Pacers to assist Haliburton for a long time.