Playoff Drew, Andrew Nembhard, emerges again as a post-season hero

Nembhard guards every opponent's top perimeter scorer, and he does it well. This series, he will be dealing with the MVP, fellow Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. So far, so good.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Andrew Nembhard plays a unique game. He doesn’t jump out of the gym, doesn’t overwhelm opponents with size or speed. He’s hyper-physical, capable of using his body to create angles, but on the pure raw athleticism scale, he’s not exactly Obi Toppin.

But there he was late in Thursday’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City, stepping back to make a massive three with 1:59 left to cut OKC’s lead to three. Then, on OKC’s penultimate possession, Nembhard got in a stance and guarded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, his Canadian Olympic teammate and long-time nemesis, and forced him into a tough shot that missed, was corralled by Aaron Nesmith and ended up in Tyrese Haliburton’s sure hands. Seconds later, Haliburton did what he’s been doing all playoffs, knocking down the pull-up wing jumper to give Indiana the unlikeliest 111-110 victory imaginable.

SGA scored 38 points Thursday, but shot just 29.4 percent against Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith. There’s a reason the Pacers limped out to a 10-15 start this season, raising suspicions last year’s Eastern Conference Finals appearance was something of a fluke: Nembhard, Nesmith and Ben Sheppard were all injured. They are this team’s connective tissue, the ones who surround Haliburton, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner and make the Pacers whole.

“I mean, I have the utmost confidence in him (Nembhard); we all do as a group,” Haliburton said after Game 1. “He’s our guy. He’s been our guy all year. If there wasn’t the 65-game rule, he’s an all-defensive guy, plain and simple.