Game Rewind: Pacers 112, Warriors 104

Monday, Dec. 5 at 10:00 PM ET at Chase Center

Heading into Monday's game at Golden State, all the focus was on who the Indiana Pacers would not have on the second night of a back-to-back. Starting point guard Tyrese Haliburton, backup T.J. McConnell, starting center Myles Turner, veteran forward James Johnson, and second-year guard Chris Duarte were among Indiana's inactives against the defending NBA champions.

Luckily for the Pacers, they still had Andrew Nembhard.

Playing extended minutes with both Haliburton and McConnell sidelined, the rookie point guard was simply brilliant, tallying 31 points, 13 assists, and eight rebounds to lead Indiana (13-11) to a 112-104 victory.

One week to the day after hitting a buzzer-beating three to stun LeBron James and the Lakers, Nembhard put together the most complete game of his career against Steph Curry and the Warriors. The 22-year-old Canadian went 13-for-21 from the field and 5-for-7 from 3-point range in 41 minutes to lead undermanned Indiana to victory.

It was a needed result for a Pacers squad that had scuffled lately, dropping four of its last five road contests.

"It was a big opportunity for us coming off a couple losses," Nembhard told Bally Sports Indiana's Jeremiah Johnson. "We just wanted to get back in the win column and just have a group where we were playing together. I felt like we did that on both sides today."

The Warriors led 100-99 following two Curry free throws with 4:42 remaining. That's when Nembhard started to put the finishing touches on his career night.

The rookie out of Gonzaga drained the go-ahead three with 4:26 to play. The next trip down the floor, he connected on a lob with Isaiah Jackson for his 13th assist.

At that point, the youngster was feeling it. On Indiana's next possession, he crossed up Curry before draining a stepback three to put Indiana up seven.

After a Jonathan Kuminga bucket on the other end, Nembhard drained another jumper to surpass 30 points for the first time in his career.

A Jordan Poole dunk in the closing seconds were the Warriors' only points over the final 2:55 as Nembhard and the shorthanded Pacers pulled away for the win.

Haliburton (sore left groin) and backup McConnell (non-COVID illness) were unavailable for the second straight night. For Monday's game, they were joined on the inactive list by starting center Myles Turner (sore right hamstring) and veteran forward James Johnson (right elbow sprain).

But others stepped up in their absence, none more so than Nembhard.

Buddy Hield finished with 17 points, nine rebounds, and five assists in the victory. Jalen Smith added 15 points, nine boards, and three blocks and three other Pacers reached double figures.

"Resilient group we have," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. "They've been like this all year. Second night (of a back-to-back), really a lot of things going against us. We had really an amazing performance by Andrew Nembhard and a lot of guys that just starred in their roles in this game.

"Really great win, really great feeling to have a win in a difficult place like this. So really grateful for these guys and what they did."

The Pacers came out firing at the start of Monday's contest. Smith and Aaron Nesmith each knocked down 3-pointers as Indiana jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead.

That was just the start of a dominant opening quarter for Indiana. Led by seven points apiece from Smith and rookie guard Bennedict Mathurin -- making his first career start -- the Pacers shot 65.2 percent in the frame. All eight players who saw the floor in the quarter scored -- including two-way forward Kendall Brown -- as the Blue & Gold took a 34-21 lead into the second quarter.

Poole opened the scoring in the ensuing frame with a three at the 10:52 mark, but Indiana answered with six straight points to extend its lead to 16. That forced a timeout from Warriors head coach Steve Kerr with 9:22 remaining in the first half.

Golden State responded after the stoppage. The Warriors held Indiana scoreless for nearly four minutes, reeling off 12 unanswered points over that span -- the last three coming on Klay Thompson's third 3-pointer of the half with 5:54 remaining.

Nembhard's layup at 5:28 ended Indiana's drought, but Thompson drilled two more treys from the right wing on Golden State's next two trips down the floor to tie the game at 42.

The hosts moved in front briefly on two Jonathan Kuminga free throws with 3:40 left in the half before the Pacers finally found some offense, stringing together baskets on three consecutive possessions to trigger a 9-0 run.

The visitors held on to the lead for the remainder of the half, with Nembhard finding Oshae Brissett for a 3-pointer just before the buzzer that pushed the margin back to nine, 59-50.

The Pacers scored the first five points of the second half to go back up by 14, but the Warriors outscored Indiana 19-8 over the next six minutes. Back-to-back threes from Curry (his first of the night) and Poole capped that run and made it a 74-71 game.

Once again, the Pacers responded. Hield buried a three, Jackson threw down consecutive dunks -- the second one an and-one off an alley-oop from Nembhard -- and then Nembhard drilled his third triple of the night during an 11-3 Indiana run.

Thanks to that spurt, the Pacers took an 89-81 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Warriors came right back at them to open the final frame, scoring the first six points of the quarter. After a Hield three, Thompson went back-to-back for his seventh and eighth threes of the night to put Golden State in front, 93-92, with 9:25 remaining.

Hield answered with his 1,500th career three to put the Pacers back in front. There were four lead changes and two ties over the next few minutes before Nembhard closed out the victory.

"I think the whole team was just good at staying together (and) composed, knowing that these guys are the reigning champs, four-time champs," Nembhard said. "They're going to go on runs, they're going to have big bursts, we've just got to stay together and combat that."

Mathurin finished with 14 points in his first career start. Brissett added 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench while going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. Jackson chipped in 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Thompson led the Warriors with 28 points, going 8-for-16 from long range. Poole added 23 points, five boards, and four assists.

Curry, who entered the night fourth in the NBA in scoring at 30.8 points per game, managed just 12 points on 3-of-17 shooting (2-of-10 from 3-point range).

After six games west of the Rockies, the Pacers will wrap up their longest road trip since 1986 a little closer to home. Indiana will play at Minnesota on Wednesday before returning to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to tip off a four-game homestand on Friday.

Nembhard recorded his second career double-double (his first came on Friday in Utah) and set new career highs for points (31), assists (13), rebounds (eight), 3-pointers (five), field goals (13), and minutes (41).

Hield went 4-for-13 from 3-point range on Monday. With his final made three, he became the 43rd player in league history to reach 1,500 career 3-pointers. He accomplished the feat in 492 career games, second fastest to achieve the mark, trailing only Curry (477 games). Thompson was the second fastest prior to Hield, doing it in 517 contests.

Indiana held the Warriors to just 40.4 percent shooting, Golden State's second-lowest field goal percentage this season.

Jackson reached double figures off the bench for the sixth time this season and the first time in his last seven contests.

Brown, who had appeared in just four of Indiana's first 22 games and logged 17 total minutes, surpassed that minute total on Monday alone. The 19-year-old out of Baylor played 18 minutes against the Warriors, finishing with three points on 1-of-3 shooting, five rebounds, and two assists.

"He really is a special player. Our basketball people, Kevin Pritchard and Chad Buchanan and Kelly (Krauskopf) and Ted (Wu)...I mean they just hit it out of the park with him. This guy has got amazing poise, he's strong, he's old school but new school, he's special." -Carlisle on Nembhard

"I mean the team has so (many) giving guys that want to give confidence to other guys. They had super confidence in me, the coaching staff had super confidence in me. Then we just wanted to kind of stick together down the stretch and I think it was just a good team win all together, and I ended up hitting some shots that were big." -Nembhard on his performance

"It was amazing. I mean for him to be a rookie and in a big-time spot like that to control the offense like that and control the team, it showed a lot. We are just grateful to have him, you know obviously we had T.J. out sick and Ty hurt...for him to step up like that is big time." -Smith on Nembhard

"Just be a leader out there and keep the guys together, and I got to make plays. You know they're tough, especially at home. You know these guys make tough plays, tough shots. We just got to stay locked in together as a group and just figure it out and we did that. Hats off to Andrew, made big plays. You know he's built for those types of moments. We’ve seen it before so we just got to keep locked in and grinding and move onto the next one." -Hield on his mindset with the team shorthanded

"I just played my game...rebound, block shots, finish around the rim, making open shots if I have it and just pretty much just lock in on defense. Obviously with Myles not being in the game, it takes away a lot of rim protection and me and Isaiah had to step up in that department. I feel as if we handled it well." -Smith on playing without Turner

Nembhard is just the third rookie in NBA franchise history to have 30 or more points and 10 or more assists in a game. Chuck Person was the first, with a 34-point, 10-assist, 12-rebound triple-double on Dec. 20, 1986. Jamaal Tinsley had 30 points and 12 assists in a game on March 5, 2002.

The Pacers wrap up their road trip in Minnesota against Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 8:00 PM ET.

After a seven-game road trip, the Pacers will return to Indiana to host Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday, Dec. 9 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets >>