‘He’s not afraid’: Andrew Nembhard, Pacers beat Lakers on game-winner at the buzzer

Andrew Nembhard has been given praise all season long by the Indiana Pacers for the grit and maturity that he plays with each time he steps onto the basketball court.

He showed that once again when his team needed it the most.

Nembhard produced 12 points on Monday, including a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer to send the Pacers to a 116-115 win on the road over the Los Angeles Lakers. He hit a career-high four 3s as the final shot was the first game-winner at the buzzer by the Pacers since November 2014.

It was his first game-winner at any level of basketball.

“You just stay calm when you work in the gym for those types of moments,” Nembhard said. “I think you just gotta bring your confidence and when it comes to you, you just gotta step up for the team. I think it was a great team win. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of guys and it was just my turn to step up in that moment.”

The Pacers trailed 101-84 with 9:59 left to play in the fourth quarter. They finished the game on a 32-14 run and had several players step up to complete the stunning comeback.

Bennedict Mathurin scored eight of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, while Aaron Nesmith chipped in six of his 16 points in the final frame. Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 24 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds, and Myles Turner and Buddy Hield each had 15 points.

Indiana trailed by two points with 20.9 seconds left following a layup by LeBron James. Haliburton corraled the missed 3-point attempt by Turner on the ensuing possession and then fired the ball over to Nembhard, who just beat the buzzer over the outstretched arm of James.

“We found a guy that had fresh legs tonight, who played a terrific game and hit the game-winner,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “It was a joyous moment and you can tell that out on the floor. I’m really just so happy for the guys. This was a game where they just hung in and kept believing in each other.”

Nembhard not only lifted the Pacers to the win with his timely shot, but the 31st pick also provided sound defense on James, who finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal in 36 minutes.

He was matched up with James throughout the contest, and held the future Hall of Famer scoreless. James missed all four of his shots with Nembhard as his primary defender and even had one attempt blocked, according to the NBA’s tracking data.

Carlisle was proud of the defensive effort by Nembhard.

Said Haliburton:

The Pacers improved to 1-1 on their seven-game West Coast road trip and 12-8 on the season with the win. They are currently in fourth place in the Eastern Conference and appear to be poised to improve upon their 25-57 record from a year ago.

The game gave the team a moment to celebrate.

“It is exciting just to see the work we’ve been doing lately and coming together and getting that win on this road trip,” Nembhard said. “It is a big moment for us and I’m happy we got to enjoy it together.”

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Story originally appeared on Rookie Wire