ANDREW NEMBHARD threw a 3O foot HAIL MARY step back shot as their shot clock was to expire and nailed it to give the Indiana Pacers the go-ahead basket, shattering a 106 to 106 tie with the New York Knicks at the Gainebridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. In the end, free throws for Indiana upped their final score to 111 in the closing seconds.
Prior to this shot, Nembhard has only a total of two points from 1 out of 7 from the field and only two rebounds as his assignment was to shadow Jalen Brunson. Later on he was taken out of this assignment as he cannot get going on his offensive game.
Jalen Brunson will then be hounded by Aaron Nesmith who will force the Knicks star and MVP runner up to 5 turnovers and an over-all 10 out of 26 tries to score only 26 points for the game which is a far cry from his usual average. The 6 foot 6 inches Nesmith will bother the scoring of Brunson that it seems Indiana has found a way to contained the prolific scorer for at least the night but not before tying the game at 106 all from a three pointer from way way out after getting away from Nesmith.
The Knicks got going with the record 35 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists effort from Donte DiVicenzo but this was wasted with the combined Pacers performance (Tyrese Haliburton’s 35 points and the combined 47 points of Paul Siakam – 26 points and Myles Turner 21 points)
In the end, the banged-up New York team down to 7 people in rotation did not have the answer to the combined Indiana Pacers who kept their hopes alive bringing the series 2 to 1 still in favor of New York but with another game in Indianapolis Indiana hoping to even the series.
–OLP
