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Frustrated Jalen Brunson Head-Butted Andrew Nembhard Late in Game 6 Loss

Stephen Douglas

Jalen Brunson head butted Andrew Nembhard during the 4th quarter on Saturday.
Jalen Brunson head butted Andrew Nembhard during the 4th quarter on Saturday. / @TheSportingNew
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Andrew Nembhard had a huge game as the Indiana Pacers closed out the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night. The Pacers guard had 14 points, eight assists and six steals. After the final steal he got right back up on Jalen Brunson, who appeared to head-butt him as they ran back up the court.

You could see Nembhard and Brunson going up the court during the broadcast while Landry Shamet brought the ball up. Replay showed Nembhard's face get briefly distorted and then his wide-eyed reaction as he looked for a call.

This is the kind of contact to the head that Tyrese Haliburton thought he had experienced earlier in the evening when he got a slap from OG Anunoby.

Brunson finished with 19 points on 18 field goal attempts in the loss. He also had five turnovers thanks to the defense of Pacers like Nembhard.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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