Pacers’ Andrew Nembhard continues his disappearing act in loss to Nuggets

Andrew Nembhard has had a rough couple of weeks. Let’s say that again.

Andrew Nembhard has had a rough couple of weeks. Ever since Tyrese Haliburton went down to injury, the expectation would have been that Nembhard would have been able to really grow and thrive in his absence. Unfortunately, Nembhard has not answered the call and has been relatively awful since Haliburton left.

How bad has Nembhard been? Let’s just look at points, field goal percentage, and plus minus in his last handful of games prior to Denver.

Nembhard vs ATL: 6 points, 13% FG, 0 +/-

Nembhard vs MEM: 7 points, 22% FG, -24 +/-

Nembhard vs MIL : 7 points, 33% FG, -11 +/-

Nembhard vs OKC: 18 points, 44% FG, -16 +/-

Obviously Nembhard played okay in the Thunder game even though the Pacers were played off the court in his plus/minus numbers. However, given the amount of playing time and the vacuum that has been presented, you would expect him to have improved as his usage increased.

The story at Denver was no different, with Nembhard continuing to struggle to be efficient from the floor and to score against a Jokic-less Nuggets team.

The fact of the matter is that this Pacers team looks night and day different than they did with Haliburton prior to injury. They are unable to score, unable to defend, and look every bit the team that was supposed to only win 23 games at start of season.

So what did we learn from the Pacers from their trip to the Mile High City?

• Without Tyrese Haliburton, this team is going nowhere. Even without Jokic, the Nuggets were able to completely dismantle the Indiana Pacers and no one has the ability to stop it. It makes one pause and think about whether we should continue to build through the draft and stop with our playoff hopes.
• Mathurin continues to struggle to takeover games. Early this season there was optimism that Mathurin could be the player that could takeover games. Late in the season, he has looked much more the rookie he is. Still extremely talented, but still has a lot of growth to do. This continued to show in Denver.
• Myles Turner is good on his own, but great with Tyrese Haliburton. It is starting to appear as if Turner’s game is really elevated by the presence of Haliburton. He would be wise to take a long look at that extension if success is one of his main objectives moving forward.

The Pacers are back to take on Suns tomorrow.