The Pacers held Stephen Curry to 2 of 13 shots for their fifth straight win

SAN FRANCISCO – After three quarters of rocking back and forth and dodging bodies to stay as close as possible to the deadliest shooter the game of basketball has ever seen, Andrew Nembhard finally hit a screen where he didn’t come over.

With just over 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Pacers’ third-year guard was locked on Stephen Curry – the two-time MVP, leading 3-point shooter in NBA history and 2024 U.S. Olympic hero – from just under the foul line. Line with Warriors second-year guard Brandon Podziemski holding the ball above the 3-point arc and Pacers guard Ben Sheppard covering the Warriors forward Moses Moody defended just below the arc at the top of the key. Podziemski threw a bounce pass to forward Draymond Green, who posted Pacers center Myles Turner at the foul line extended.

As soon as he released the ball, Podziemski dove toward the paint and he and Moody closed in on each other, using their defenders, Sheppard and TJ McConnell, to form a four-body wall for Curry to run around. Nembhard tried to split them, but Podziemski stuck his right leg out in what could have been described as an illegal umbrella, throwing Nembhard off balance. Curry got the cleanest looks from beyond the arc and drilled his second 3-pointer of the night and first with Nembhard as the primary defender. The shot gave the Warriors their first lead since the second quarter and thrilled the Chase Center crowd that had been waiting all night to see their megastar find his rhythm.

But Nembhard responded by doing the only thing he could do. He stayed in Curry’s face and followed him wherever he went, no matter what got in his way. And after those 3 points, Curry never scored again.

The 10-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA pick and two-time NBA scoring champion finished the game with 10 points on 2 of 13 shooting, including 2 of 9 from 3-point range, and it was calculated The Pacers’ gamble paid off. They had respect for the Warriors’ other scorers, but they knew no one could burn them like Curry, having just seen him explode for 42 points with 11 in the Warriors’ 22-point win in Indianapolis last February 3-point shots scored. They believed that if they devoted enough resources to keep Curry from scoring, they could handle everyone else, and they were right. Because he was largely neutralized on a night that ranks among the 15 worst shooting performances of a basketball career, the Pacers held the Warriors to 43.3% shooting, including 39.1% in the second half, and got one exciting 111-105 win Monday. It’s their fifth straight win and gives them a snapshot of their three-game road trip to the West Coast, a 15-15 record this year and a perfect 6-0 record all-time at Chase Center.

“We made a strong commitment to him even though we knew we were giving up some other things, and we lived with it,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of Curry. “So when you’re dealing with a guy like that who’s an assassin, it’s a choice. We have great respect for him. We’re lucky he didn’t fire a few more shots.”

Part of it was definitely luck. There were definitely shots among Curry’s 11 missed field goals, which he usually makes, but a lot of those were also Nembhard and the help defense behind him.

Nembhard took a similar approach to guarding Curry as the Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells took to All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton when the Pacers played at Memphis on Dec. 1. He guarded Curry with the face guard, and although he occasionally switched when he was screened, he was more focused on staying with his man than trying to stay connected to the rest of the team’s concept.

But that task is much easier said than accomplished because Curry’s strength as a scorer comes from both his ability to move with and without the ball and his shooting touch. The 36-year-old remains in incredible shape and he tires defenders out by staying in constant motion and taking advantage of the barriers created by his shielding teammates.

“You just have to always be committed,” said Nembhard. “He is never immobile. He is most dangerous when he doesn’t have the ball sometimes.

Curry had dealt with Nembhard before and was aware beforehand that he was dealing with a stubborn defender. When Nembhard faced Curry for the first time in December 2022, Haliburton was out and Nembhard had to not only defend the All-Galaxy shooter, but also score the point. Nembhard delivered one of the best performances of his career to date with 31 points and 13 assists and helped hold Curry to 12 points on 3 of 17 shooting, including 2 of 10 from 3-point range.

Curry suspected early on Monday that Nembhard would be doing even better in his business than usual.

“I think with some players in systems, you realize their job is to stay on me and not worry about anything else,” Curry said when asked what makes Nembhard a strong defender. “And when they have the stamina to do it, you love that back and forth. Yeah, I think he takes over on defense, that’s his role, especially with the starting unit. Whoever is the top scorer goes.” – for the guy, he takes on that responsibility.

Much like Haliburton did with Wells in that game against the Grizzlies, Curry used Nembhard’s pressure as an opportunity to get others involved. He had three assists in eight minutes of the first quarter without making a single field goal. He ended up with seven assists, and his seriousness clearly led to more balls in which he wasn’t technically involved.

“You can’t measure Steph Curry’s effectiveness by his shooting,” Carlisle said. “Because just his running around the court gave them seven baskets. You can really add seven field goals to his record.”

But when Curry tried to get more involved in the offense, Nembhard and others made it difficult. He went 0 of 4 from the field in the second quarter, including 0 of 3 from 3-point range, and had a hand in or near his face on all four attempts. Nembhard drove him down the lane and forced him into an off-balance fadeaway on his only two-point attempt. He was close on all three 3-point misses, including an airball attempt on a halftime buzzer-beater that left him and Haliburton both in his face. At halftime he only scored two points on free throws.

Curry’s first field goal didn’t come until 40.1 seconds into the third quarter, when Sheppard and McConnell exchanged a screen and Curry threw it to the ground in front of McConnell. His next shot attempt, a transition attempt just inside the logo from 32 feet, resulted in a basket as former Pacer Buddy Hield grabbed the offensive rebound and made a putback while everyone else appeared to be in awe of what they thought was happening would happen. His next attempt was the 3-pointer with Nembhard caught between the screens, and at that point it seemed like he was somehow finding a rhythm.

But after that, Curry missed his last five shots. Nembhard was right there in the first four rounds, even if he missed a layup. Third-year winger Bennedict Mathurin blocked his final shot — a 24-foot stepback attempt with 47 seconds left that would have given the Warriors a one-point lead had it gone in — but Nembhard grabbed the rebound. The ensuing possession ultimately led to Myles Turner’s 3-pointer, which ultimately gave the Pacers the game.

Nembhard’s performance was another reminder of how important it was for the Pacers to get him back after he missed 12 games in November with tendonitis in his right knee. Their defense was lost with Nembhard and winger Ben Sheppard all missing time, but the return of Nembhard ensures they have someone at the point of attack to take on the top scorers. He also had 15 points and four assists in the game. In the nine games he returned, he averaged 11.1 points and 4.4 assists per game and shot 53.5% from the floor and 40.9% from three while finishing at +53 posted the team’s third-best plus-minus total during that time.

“This is probably the toughest coverage in our league,” Haliburton said of Curry. “I thought (Nembhard) did a great job of showing his strengths and contesting every shot. All five of us were connected and knew that guarding Steph Curry was a five-man job, but it starts with whoever is going after him. I thought he did a great job and we just went for it.”

But as Haliburton said, they didn’t have many breakdowns in the help defense behind him either, and the other defenders made sure they didn’t pay too high a price for paying so much attention to Curry. Young power forward Jonathan Kuminga gave them major problems, scoring 26 points on 9 of 16 shooting, but few others were efficient. Senior winger Andrew Wiggins had 16 points but was 7 of 16 from the floor and 1 of 7 from 3-point range. Hield had 13 points on 5 of 11 shooting, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, and former Indiana University All-American and Center Grove Mr. Basketball Trayce Jackson-Davis had 13 of 6 of 9 shooting, but the Warriors only had five points in double figures. They made just 18 of 46 shots in the second half, including just 5 of 21 3-point attempts. In the fourth quarter, they scored just 20 points on 7 of 21 shooting, going 2 of 10 from 3-point range and averaging 0.93 points per possession by the end of the game.

For most of the last three seasons, the Pacers have won despite their defense. When they reached the Eastern Conference finals last season, they posted the highest points average in the NBA in 40 years and ranked second in offensive efficiency behind the eventual NBA champion Celtics, but were 27th in the NBA in allowed points and 24th place in the defensive rating. This year, they still rank 22nd in points allowed, giving up 115.9 points per game, and 20th in defensive rating.

However, during their five-game winning streak, they hold opponents to 104.4 points per game – which is the fourth-best mark in the league during that span – and 105.2 points per 100 possessions, which ranks them seventh in defensive rating this time. It’s a sign that they all take their jobs seriously, not just Nembhard and people like Curry.

“This is not a team that’s trying to find an excuse for why we just can’t get it done,” Carlisle said. “This is a team that is trying to find answers and find ways to make this happen. That’s what’s special about this group.”

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