Andrew Nembhard finishes +21 in NBA Summer League debut

The Pacers second round pick was a catalyst in getting Indiana's potent offense going early and locked down on both ends of the court

Nembhard showcased similar floor general and facilitator tendencies to what he had at Gonzaga for the Pacers on Thursday (Indiana Star)

Thursday may have been the Bennedict Mathurin Show for the Indiana Pacers in Las Vegas, but Gonzaga alumni Andrew Nembhard also shined en route to a 96-84 win over the Charlotte Hornets.

Five points on 2-for-6 shooting is far from a prolific scoring performance from the Canadian Zag, but Nembhard snagged two steals, reeled in five rebounds and gave out five assists. His first two assists fed scores for Mathurin, helping the first round pick out of Arizona climb to a game-high 23 points.

Nembhard also ended up with a +/- of 21 in 24 minutes, the third highest +/- in the game. Mathurin ended with a +/- of 9 in 20 minutes.

Nembhard was quick to find Mathurin for a three after a drive and kick to get the Pacer’s scoring underway on Thursday, but stepped out of bounds while taking the ball up the court on the next possession. He then missed his first three shot attempts, but the Pacers second round selection found his footing in the game once again after blocking a 3-point attempt from Jalen Crutcher.

He went on to find Mathurin again for a deep three, and then notched his first Summer League points after laying in a smooth transition bucket to take the Pacers up by 14 points with three minutes left in the first quarter.

"He's just a steady, smart, solid point guard and he does it on both ends," Pacers Summer League coach Ronald Nored told the Spokesman Review. "He commands us offensively, I let him call plays. He's smarter than me anyways, and then on defensive he commands us as well."

The former all-WCC first team guard closed out the game by knocking down a 3 that Chris Duarte fed him.Nembhard ended the night with two turnovers and four personal fouls as well.

Fanbo Zeng, who was once a Gonzaga commit before rescinding his commitment and joining onto the G-League Ignite squad, had four points and five personal fouls against him in 14 minutes of action Thursday. Zeng went undrafted during June’s draft and signed on with the Pacers’ Summer League squad in hopes of earning a two-way contract with an NBA organization.