INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Nembhard scored 26 points and posted 10 assists to lead the Pacers to a 129-124 win over the Hawks in a frenetically paced game on Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Pacers have won two in a row and three of their last four games to improve to 13-36 and move out of last place in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks fell to 24-27 and fell to 10th in the East.
Forward Pascal Siakam scored 25 points and his jumper with 19 seconds to go helped put the Hawks away. Forward Aaron Nesmith scored 23 points, center Jay Huff had 14 points and six rebounds and wing Bennedict Mathurin had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Forward Jarace Walker had 11 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
Jalen Johnson posted a triple-double for the Hawks with 33 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 21 points.
Here are three observations.
Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith lead with exceptional efficiency
Just as they did in Wednesday night’s comeback win over the Bulls, the Pacers leaned hard on their battle-tested veterans. Siakam and Nesmith did particularly exceptional work with performances that ranked among their most efficient of the year.
Siakam scored his 25 points on 11 of 15 shooting with his step-back 11-footer with 19 seconds to play providing the decisive blow. He took just one 3-pointer and hit it and scored all the rest of his points in the paint. That included seven layups as he was able to get to the rim at will. He also had six rebounds and two critical steals on defense.
Nesmith meanwhile had one of his best all-around shooting nights of the year. His 23 points were his fourth highest figure of the season, and he was 8 of 10 from the floor including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. He also made all four of his foul shots. He’s showing growth off the bounce and in the mid-range as all of his 2s.
Andrew Nembhard goes off from deep
The Pacers were able to match the Hawks shot-for-shot in a wild first half in large part because Andrew Nembhard had his most prolific 3-point shooting night of the year.
The fourth-year guard scored 15 points in the first quarter alone on 5 of 8 shooting including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. By halftime he already had 21 points on the board on 7 of 12 shooting and was 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. He quieted somewhat in the third but still hit his fifth 3, creating a season-high, when he took a late-clock step-back 3 just inside the logo and drilled it. He finished with 26 points on 9 of 19 shooting including 5 of 9 from 3 and also had 10 assists.
Jay Huff get going after cut in playing time
The Pacers recent trend of starting with small lineups with Pascal Siakam at the nominal center position has led to even bigger swings in playing time for the true centers on the roster. Of course, they knew that was coming when the season started as coach Rick Carlisle told them that center-by-committee meant that that none of them would ever be able to set into a completely steady role and would have to roll with the punches.
Huff showed he could hang in over the past four games. He played a total of about six minutes against the Thunder and Hawks last week and scored just three points on 1 of 1 shooting. However, he had 10 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday’s win over the Bulls and got going even more in Saturday’s game.
Huff scored 13 first-half points on 5 of 8 shooting including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. In the second half he quieted some but had a critical fourth quarter reverse layup that drew a foul for a three-point play. He finished with 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Andrew Nembhard leads Pacers out of last place with season-high 3s in win over Hawks
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
