Andrew Nembhard thriving in second season with Indiana Pacers
Something about Andrew Nembhard's game just translates into efficient offense.
Perhaps it's his ability to dissect multiple coverages coming off a screen. Or his precision passing and high-IQ decision making as a floor general. Maybe it's a combination of both, along with being put in the right situation to succeed, that has the 6-foot-5 Canadian playing at the top of his game right now in his sophomore season with the Indiana Pacers.
Over Nembhard's last five games, he averaged 17.4 points on 53.4% from the field while dishing out 7.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds. Indiana went 3-2 in the stretch with the losses coming to the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets and the Eastern Conference's No. 1 team, the Boston Celtics. Not bad for a team that's missed its All-NBA caliber point guard in Tyrese Haliburton, who was absent in 10 of the last 11 games with a hamstring injury before returning Tuesday against the Celtics.
Nembhard, who received votes for Eastern Conference Player of the Week and surpassed 1,000 career points on Sunday, helped keep the Pacers' top-ranked scoring offense afloat with his playmaking. He had 22 assists to just two turnovers over his last three games, as the Pacers averaged 124.3 points and had a 3.4 assist to turnover ratio in that stretch.
Overall, Indiana ranks No. 1 in points (124.8), field goal percentage (50.6%) and assists (31.1) through 48 games this season. Haliburton has a lot to do with the Pacers' offensive success, as he leads the NBA in assists with 12.5 per game to go along with 23.3 points and 4.1 rebounds. Head coach Rick Carlisle's knack for offensive schemes is also a major advantage in today's NBA, creating a perfect storm for guards like Nembhard and Haliburton to thrive with free-flowing sets that space out opposing defenses.
Nembhard isn't a stranger to guiding elite offenses. He was the floor general for Gonzaga's top-ranked scoring offense as a senior in the 2021-22 season that featured plenty of talent in Chet Holmgren, Drew Timme and Julian Strawther. Nembhard wasn't the star of that show necessarily, much like his current role with the Pacers, but both of his teams would likely agree he was the straw that stirred a delicious drink.
Despite his recent hot stretch, Nembhard was left out of the 28-player pool chosen for the 2024 Rising Stars Challenge, an NBA All-Star event featuring the league's best first- and second-year players in a four-team tournament. Nembhard, who was selected to be a part of the 2023 Rising Stars challenge, has put up similar numbers to his rookie campaign; 9.4 points, 4.7 assists and 1.8 rebounds per game while shooting 49.1% from the field.
