Nembhard, Zubac, Huff and Thompson Shine in International Play

The summer of 2026 will be filled with a ton of basketball, as several Pacers players are involved in Fiba World Cup qualifier games. Andrew Nembhard is playing for Canada, Ethan Thompson is suiting up for Puerto Rico alongside his brother Stephen, Jay Huff (or James Huff for those watching) is playing for the USA, and Ivica Zubac is playing for Croatia.

In the FIBA World Cup Americas Qualifiers, Andrew Nembhard went head-to-head with his Pacers' teammate, Ethan Thompson. This one wasn't close, as Canada blew out Puerto Rico 110-84, improving to 5-0 in Group B.

During this game, Nembhard put up a terrific statline, scoring 23 points, corralling five rebounds and dishing out four assists. He shot 9-11 from the field and went 5-7 from three. This was a game that Nembhard was able to put a ton of offensive and defensive highlights together.

Andrew Nembhard is way too good.

23 PTS - 5 REB - 4 AST#FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/x7s7Q9ogOY
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 🏆 (@FIBAWC) July 4, 2026

He stole the ball from Ethan Thompson, and on the fastbreak threw down a dunk with Thompson in the vicinity. Nembhard rarely dunks the ball, so this was fun to see. He later grabbed a rebound, led the fastbreak and threw a dime of a pass to Kyshawn George for the dunk.

Next, he navigated through two defenders and got the ball into the low post, but as the defense collapsed, the ball was kicked back out to the perimeter and Nembhard drilled a three from a few feet behind the top of the key. Later, he had a terrific backdoor cut that led to an easy two. Then to top off his highlight package, he pump faked a corner three on Thompson, started to drive to the basket, and then stopped on a dime and splashed a corner Thompson.

Ethan Thompson finished the game with 14 points on 5-11 shooting, and went 4-7 from three. He added four assists and four rebounds. He was the primary defender for Andrew Nembhard, and led the team in scoring.

Ethan Thompson for Puerto Rico vs Canada

🇵🇷

14 pts
𝟰/𝟳 𝟯𝗣𝗠*
4 ast pic.twitter.com/MI1DE3l7uk
— TreS 🇵🇷🏆 (@treball133) July 4, 2026

Jay Huff Game Saving Block Helps USA Escape by 1

In 23:42 of play, Jay (James) Huff finished the game with 12 points on 4-7 shooting. He went 3-5 from two, and 1-2 from three. He also added four blocks and four assists.

With USA leading by one point, the Dominican Republic had a chance to take the lead and win the game. Leading scorer, Andres Feliz, drove to the basket and was stopped by a swarm of USA defenders. He pitched the ball back to Joel Soriano who tried to finish over Huff at the rim, but was met with a classic Huff Stuff.

Huffin & Stuffin ❌

Jay Huff’s defensive stop sealed the win for the 🇺🇸 USA Men!

🇺🇸 #FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/dGCWpHTObD
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 4, 2026

After the play, Huff was lying with his back on the floor and screaming in celebration. Former Pacer, Terry Taylor, ran over to Huff and began to punch him in the chest to join in on the celebration. This is a great experience for Huff, who is expected to be the Pacers backup center this season.

Ivica Zubac and Croatia Dominate

After missing the remainder of the season with a broken rib, it was great to see Zubac back healthy and out on the floor. Croatia played their first qualifier game against Cyprus, and blew them out of the water with a 123-50 win.

Zubac played a total of 18 minutes and dominated with 24 points on 10-13 shooting He collected 11 rebounds and rejected four shots, while posting a positive net rating of +44.

Big Z was feasting in Cyprus 🍽️

24 PTS | 11 REB for Ivica Zubac 🇭🇷#FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/jbgjn25daZ
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 🏆 (@FIBAWC) July 3, 2026

In these highlights, Zubac displays his incredible touch around the rim, flipping in multiple hook shots over his smaller opponents. He also had five dunks during the game, one in which he backed down his defender and then patiently waited to throw it down over him with a left hand flush.

During the second half, Zubac had a terrific lob finish, showing off that part of his game. He scored all of his points in the paint, and when he wasn't scoring off post-ups, he was usually the beneficiary of a high-post to low-post action where he excelled in the dunkers spot.

Lastly, he was a force on the defensive side as a rim protector. When opponents tried to drive to the basket, Big Zu was waiting with a rejection in hand. My favorite block of the game was when he moved around a smaller player sealing him off to stop the driver from connecting on a wide-open layup.

You can follow me on X @AlexGoldenNBA and listen to my daily podcast, Setting The Pace, wherever you get your podcasts.

Add us as a preferred source on Google