"SGA Terminator"? Is Nembhard s finals breakout accident or inevitable?

In the sixth game of life and death, the Pacers did not crush their talents or shine with stars, but instead played their most Pacers: team basketball, everyone participated, and the rotation was in place. 11 players rotated in the game, and 6 players scored in double digits. The key is that Halliburton and Siakam only scored 30 points in total, but they still beat the Thunder. Why? Because Nembhard stood up.

A perfect "turnaround": From G5 war criminals to G6 heroes

It is hard to imagine that this guy who "smashed" in G5 can perform in G6 as a representative work of his career. In the 31st minute, he made 5 of 7 shots, 3 of 5 three-pointers, 4 of 4 free throws, scored 17 points, 4 assists and 3 steals, with only 1 turnover, plus or negative value +19, and his real shooting percentage was as high as 97%. But compared to the data, what is more shocking is the content.

In the first quarter, the Thunder took the lead 10-2 at the beginning, as if they were going to win the game in one go. But then, the Pacers made a 24-7 counterattack, while Nembhard alone contributed 8 points - two consecutive three-pointers and one layup, reversing the situation. Since then, the Pacers have never fallen behind.

In the middle of the third quarter, when the Thunder chased the score difference from 27 to 18, he was the other one, scoring 7 points in a row, stabilizing the situation again. It’s not luck, nor is it hiding in the corner of tactical thinking to "eat cake", but it’s actually “stand out” at critical moments.

data will not lie: he really limits SGA. The most jaw-dropping thing about G6 is not how he scores, but how he locks the MVP candidate SGA into a "cage". In the game, SGA made 4 of 10 shots in front of Nembhard, scored only 9 points, and made 4 turnovers.

Zoom into the entire series, Nembhard faced SGA in a total of 51 minutes and 267 rounds, SGA made 21 of 51 shots (2 of 9 three-pointers), scoring only 58 points, and 11 assists and 12 turnovers were made. You can say that he did not limit SGA's passes, but this is already "alone god" in defense.

Review of the four rounds of the playoffs: Fighting the opponent's core continuously

Do you think this is "accident"? No, he's been doing this all the playoffs. Let's look at it one round after another:

First round against the Bucks: Lillard faced him in 94 rounds in the first 3 games (before injury), made 3 of 13 shots, scoring only 10 points.

Second round against the Cavaliers: Mitchell made 10 of 43 shots in 173 rounds against him, scoring only 27 points.

Eastern Conference Finals vs. Knicks: Brunson faced him in 95 rounds, made 13 of 34 shots, 33 points, plus 6 turnovers.

Finals so far: SGA has not been spared.

Four-round series, the four star guards are restricted, and they do not rely on their physical strength to fight, but rely on smart positions, accurate predictions, and constantly forcing their opponents to play uncomfortable. It's like playing the "Defensive Masters".

Growth on both offense and defense: far more than just a blue-collar worker

In addition to defense, Nembhard has also improved significantly on the offensive end this year: the regular season three-point shooting percentage is only 29.1%, but the playoffs have increased to 48.8%, an increase of nearly 20 points; the playoff average data: 12.8 points, 5.1 assists, 1.6 steals, 1.6 turnovers, and the real shooting percentage is 59%;

Compared with the regular season 10 points, 5 assists, and 1.2 steals, the shooting percentage is 54.5%, which is almost an increase in the entire line.

In other words, he did not just rely on defense to "take up his post", but truly grew into a strong playoff and strong soldier with both offense and defense.

The final battle is in the seventh tiebreak, is it his turn to be on the "hot search" again?

Of course, all flashes have a final inspection field - G7. The Thunder plays at home, and SGA will definitely make some adjustments. For Nembhard, whether the secondary suppression of this "scoring machine" can be completed determines whether the Pacers can complete this counterattack script.

He is not a superstar, but in the 2025 playoffs, he put Lillard, Mitchell, Brunson, and SGA on his defensive resume one by one. In the next game, it is not ruled out that he will be the "Shock Warrior" again. After all, he is no longer a small role now.