Pacers Andrew Nembhard, Myles Turner struggling against Knicks' lineup change
NEW YORK — Andrew Nembhard was asked how the Eastern Conference Finals have changed for him personally since the Knicks switched their lineups and rotations in Game 3 to go bigger in the starting five and deeper into the bench than they've done in these playoffs and most of this season.
'I'm just gonna keep that to myself,' Nembhard said.
It's more than understandable that he'd rather not discuss it because the changing of the matchups has clearly made his life significantly more difficult. In Games 1 and 2 in the series, Nembhard scored a combined 27 points (13.5 per game) on 11 of 18 shooting (61.1%) including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. In the last three games he has just 18 points total (6.0 per game) on 5 of 26 shooting (19.2%) including 1 of 6 from 3.
The Knicks made changes to improve defensively. Though the Pacers scored a playoff-high 130 points in Game 4, they scored just 100 in Game 3 and 94 in Game 5, their two lowest figures in these playoffs.
The big change was to put center Mitchell Robinson in the starting lineup and move wing Josh Hart to the bench. Though Hart is one of the Knicks' three top wing defenders along with Mikal Bridges and O.G. Anunoby, they needed better rim protection to take away some of the Pacers' paint scoring opportunities and also a center more suited to switch on to ball-handlers on the pick and roll. Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the league's top scoring and rebounding centers but defense is not his strongest suit. He scores too much to move to the bench, but Robinson's presence covers more bases.
That move led to shifts in other matchups. Anunoby, one of the most versatile defenders in the NBA, was primarily taking on Pacers All-Star power forward Pascal Siakam to start the series . The Knicks have instead used Robinson and Towns to guard him, trying to combat his skill and elusiveness with size. They could have used Jalen Brunson on Nembhard, but instead, they've put Brunson on Aaron Nesmith and Nembhard has been dealing with the 6-7 Anunoby at the start of games and often times the 6-4 Hart later. It puts Nesmith in a bit more advantageous matchup, but he's been battling through a sprained ankle and hasn't been as explosive. Meanwhile having Anunoby on Nembhard and Bridges on Tyrese Haliburton means the Knicks have ace defenders on the two players who most frequently initiate offense and that's made it difficult to get anything started.
Nembhard has also seen his life get more difficult because the Knicks have been more willing to dig into their bench. Guards Landry Shamet and Delon Wright barely played in the playoffs before Game 3 of this series. Wright had just four minutes in the entire playoffs before that point. However, coach Tom Thibodeau has called on them to play double-figure minutes in each of the last three games. Nembhard has had to deal with both players as defenders which has meant guards with fresh legs when Anunoby has been off the floor.
The defensive shift has been tough on Nembhard and it's been tough on Myles Turner as well as Turner has frequently had to deal with Mitchell Robinson directly. Turner only took three shots in Game 5. Two of them came when Robinson was off the floor and he was being defended by Towns. The first, an early 3-pointer, came when Robinson dipped deep down toward the paint to try to cut off a drive by Haliburton and Turner stayed back at the 3-point line and hit from 3. He finished 2 of 3 from the field for five points.
Turner's shooting numbers weren't as dramatically different in Games 3 and 4 as compared to Games 1 and 2. He averaged 15.5 points per game in the first four games. He did struggle from the 3-point arc, however, he's now 5 of 19 from beyond the arc for the series and he's struggled on the glass, averaging just 3.4 rebounds per game and not grabbing more than five in any of the games.
Nembhard and Turner are both critical to Haliburton's success as Nembhard is the secondary ball-handler who allows Haliburton to run around without the ball and Turner is his best ball screen partner. As the Pacers try to adjust and get past the Knicks into their first Finals since 2000 and the second in history, they'll be looking to get both more involved.
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