Hours before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals tipped on Saturday, the Indiana Pacers announced All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton wouldn’t take the floor due to a hamstring injury.
While the Blue & Gold knew replacing Haliburton would require a committee of solid performances to beat the top-seeded Boston Celtics, Pacers players and coaches felt confident that the team’s depth and drive could navigate its way to its first victory of the series.
A win wasn’t to be, but it wasn’t for a lack of players stepping up, as the Blue & Gold had career-best postseason production from second-year guard Andrew Nembhard and veteran point man T.J. McConnell.
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Should the Pacers miss Haliburton in Game 4 on Monday, Nembhard has proven he can lead the Pacers’ starting unit as the primary ballhandler and McConnell has shown he can continue orchestrating the league’s top-scoring bench or integrate into any rotation.
By the final buzzer of Game 3, Nembhard finished with a career-best (regular or postseason) 32 points on 12-for-21 shooting to go with nine assists and four rebounds, and McConnell had a personal playoff-best 23 points (10-for-17 shooting) and nine rebounds on top of six assists.
Andrew Nembhard (32 points) Highlights vs. Boston Celtics
In the first half of Game 3, McConnell came out hot in the first quarter and Nembhard stole the show in the second frame.
McConnell scored six points off the bench while pulling down four rebounds and dishing two dimes in the first quarter as the Pacers trailed 32-31.
In the second period, Nembhard made six of seven shot attempts, including draining a trio of buckets from deep, to put the Pacers in front 69-57 at the break. Nembhard scored the final eight points for his team in the second quarter, including draining a 31-foot three with five seconds on the game clock.
Neither point guard was particularly flashy in the third frame, but McConnell and Nembhard's playmaking abilities kept the Pacers ahead by 12 going into the fourth quarter.
The pair accounted for 16 of the team’s 21 points in the final period, while the Celtics came from behind in the final moments to steal one on the road. Nembhard and McConnell accounted for the team’s final 12 points over the last 4:27 of the game. While most fans are familiar with McConnell’s relentless energy and midrange game over his nine-season career, Nembhard, a Gonzaga product, has already proven time and again he’s unafraid of significant moments in just two seasons
Nembhard already has a substantial list of big-time highlights, including the game-winning shot against the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals and a 31-point outing against the Golden State Warriors in his rookie season.
Postgame, Nembhard and McConnell were more interested in discussing each other’s performances than their own.
Indiana Pacers Postgame Media Availability vs. Boston Celtics (Game 3) | May 25, 2024
McConnell has sung Nembhard’s praises since his rookie season and continued to help him develop.
“The confidence he plays with, it’s incredible,” McConnell said of Nembhard. “You see him bringing the ball up the floor, he’s getting people involved. And when he’s open, he’s shooting it and making it at a high level…In the playoffs, in the regular season, he’s coming off the bench, he’s starting at two, he’s starting at one, he’s the backup point guard. As a kid at his age, getting thrown around like that can maybe mess with your mental. But he’s answered the bell all year and his whole career. There’s no bigger fan of his game than me. He’s a really, really good player and like I said, we would not be in this position without him.”
Nembhard has credited the nine-year NBA veteran for his growth over the last two seasons.
“I’ve learned a lot from T.J. Ever since I got here, he’s been super supportive, always pushing confidence into me,” Nembhard said. “I’ve learned little things about how he gets to his spots and how he plays with pace, and how he just doesn’t let people force him into anything he doesn’t want them to force him into.”
There has never been a successful comeback from a 3–0 series deficit in the NBA playoffs, but the Pacers have proven they are operating under a one-game-at-a-time mentality, as proven by coming back from down 2-0 to the Knicks.
Should the Pacers pull off the improbable, Nembhard and McConnell will likely prove a big part of the reason why.